Hostile moves by US regulators towards the crypto industry tend to dominate the headlines, which can sometimes lead people to overlook the fact that crypto is a global enterprise. In fact, this is one of the key selling points of decentralized, public blockchains: that they do not belong to anyone, and certainly not to any one region. Essentially, crypto is borderless, which means that while what happens in the US is important, we should pay attention to what’s unfolding globally.
With this in mind, events in Asia are of long-term significance, and the story there, at the moment, is focused on three key players: Hong Kong, Singapore and China. The last of those, China, has shown ongoing belligerence towards cryptocurrencies, repeatedly banning Bitcoin in various ways. Currently, there are restrictions on crypto transactions, and the official attitude is frosty. That said, the observation has been made that if you have to ban something more than once, then banning is perhaps not an effective policy, and Beijing must be aware that digital assets are a reality to be dealt with, sooner or later, beyond just blanket prohibition.
It’s a different story when it comes to Hong Kong. While the Chinese mainland restricts crypto use, Hong Kong has proposed rules allowing licensed exchanges to serve retail traders. This is possible through Hong Kong’s status as a Special Administrative Region (SAR), which gives it enough independence from Beijing to pursue its own policies.
Hong Kong has long had a reputation as a financial hub, and as the world transitions further towards digital assets, it is plausible that the mainland Chinese authorities may regard Hong Kong as a testing ground from which, through observation, Beijing’s own approach to crypto and web3 might be recalibrated.
There must remain some concerns about Hong Kong’s future, as although the region has independence to a significant degree, it is a part of China that is raising questions about the extent to which it will always be able to operate without unwanted political pressure. However, there are indications that the Chinese authorities are open to Hong Kong integrating the crypto industry, with reports of state officials attending crypto gatherings in Hong Kong. The hope, then, must be that positive results in the autonomous region, along with a global acceptance of digital assets, can result in a shift in attitude on the mainland.
The Singaporean Approach
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