Hong Kong must accelerate the development of Web3, lawmaker says

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A Hong Kong lawmaker has pledged the city-state’s commitment to accelerating the development of the Web3 ecosystem amid a renewed global digital asset push led by United States presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Johnny Ng Kit-chong touted blockchain and Web3 as “important milestones in the development of globalization.” A member of the Legislative Council since January 2022, Ng has been pushing the blockchain agenda in the city-state, recently proposing a Web3 financing platform for the Greater Bay Area.

The legislator noted on social media that blockchain is solving key global challenges and believes “we should encourage global development together.”

Hong Kong has turned into a blockchain haven. In recent years, regulators such as the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have implemented friendlier regulations to promote the sector. Scandals, such as the $206 million scam orchestrated by local exchange JPEX, have done little to dissuade the regulators who joined the U.S. in approving spot BTC and ETH ETFs this year.

Still, Ng believes the city can do better. He called for regulators to “accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem.” He added that the region’s administration will continue to expand the Web3 market in a progressive yet responsible manner.

Former U.S. President Trump recently gave a speech at the U.S. Bitcoin Summit, sharing his views on Bitcoin. Bitcoin and Web3 have already gained the attention and development of countries around the world, and Hong Kong is also actively becoming a hub to promote technological… pic.twitter.com/e1UFCb6g1q

— Johnny Ng 吴杰庄 (@Johnny_nkc) July 28, 2024

“At the same time, Web3 represents technological and application innovation, so Hong Kong should further build an ecosystem to attract globally competitive talent and capital, public chains and exchanges, enterprises and projects, etc., to the city in order to foster the technological development of the industry,” he stated.

Ng cited Trump’s recent populist speech at a BTC event in which he pledged to establish a “strategic national [BTC] stockpile.” The Republican presidential frontrunner seems to have turned a corner in search of votes in what will be a competitive election against Kamala Harris in November; he is now firmly a BTC supporter after previously blasting it as “a scam against the dollar.”

Ng says that Hong Kong should pursue a similar model and explore BTC as an official financial reserve. He pledged to discuss the proposal with stakeholders over the coming months.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s financial industry continues to warm up to the digital assets sector. The city’s largest digital lender, ZA Bank, pledged this month to provide reserve bank services for stablecoin issuers.

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