‘Right time’ for Hong Kong’s Web3 push despite market flux — Financial Secretary

April 09. 2023

By Stephen Katte

Hong Kong has already taken serious steps to develop the Web3 industry and its Financial Secretary says now is the right time to keep moving forward.

Now is the "right time" for Hong Kong to push forward with Web3 despite the crypto market fluctuations, according to the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Paul Chan.

In an April 9 blog post, Chan explained that one of the three major directions he has proposed in the city's budget was for the further development and application of Web3.

Translated, Chan wrote that for "Web3 to steadily take the road of innovative development" Hong Kong will "adopt a strategy that emphasizes both 'proper regulation' and 'promoting development.'"

Chan says the region also plans to focus on financial security, preventing systemic risks and focus on investor education, protection, and measures around anti-money laundering.

In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing a bill to regulate crypto.

By Feb. 20 of this year, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the local securities regulator, released a proposal for a regime for cryptocurrency exchanges set to take effect in June.

The industry has been suffering a savage bear market and setbacks with exchange collapses and ongoing scrutiny from regulators.

According to Chan the industry is simply going through the same process as the Internet in the early 2000s, and after the "bursting of the bubble", market participants became much calmer.

"After the tide of speculation ebbs, the remaining powerful players will focus more on competing in technological innovation, practical application and value creation, and contribute to improving the quality of the real economy," Chan wrote.

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