US crackdown will push crypto’s ‘center of gravity’ to Hong Kong: Kaiko CEO

The U.S. government’s frosty approach to cryptocurrency regulation could ultimately see the industry’s “center of gravity” shift to Hong Kong, says Ambre Soubiran, the CEO of Paris-based institutional crypto market data provider Kaiko.

The U.S. has been at the forefront of the crypto sector for quite some time, however, with the government seemingly adopting a regulation by enforcement approach, there is a growing feeling by some that a significant amount of companies, developers and investors will soon flock elsewhere to work in friendlier environments.

1 million tech jobs are at risk of going overseas. As the U.S. goes down a path of regulatory uncertainty, the EU, UK, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and Japan are all creating environments for crypto to flourish so that they can capitalize on the next wave of innovation. pic.twitter.com/2UMkFxajcM

— Coinbase (@coinbase) March 29, 2023

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal on April 1, Soubiran suggested that the recent crackdown on crypto in the U.S. will inadvertently help Hong Kong in its goal of becoming a major crypto hub:

“The U.S. being more stringent these days than ever on crypto and Hong Kong regulating in a more favorable way…is going to clearly shift the center of gravity of crypto assets trading and investments more towards Hong Kong.”

“We want to be where our clients are,” she added.

While the U.S. government has become increasingly aggressive towards crypto since the collapse of FTX in November — with Senators such as Elizabeth Warren even recently stating that they are building an “anti-crypto army” — Hong Kong has been pushing in the other direction.

“This industry we’ve been trying to destroy, that’s grown to a trillion dollars in value, and that rallied 30% as our banking system required a $2 trillion backstop, and in 10 years added 10,000s of American jobs…

Has no value or good qualities.”

-The White House

— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) March 21, 2023

The Hong Kong government initially outlined plans in January to become a hub by rolling out progressive regulation to support high-quality crypto and fintech firms in 2023.

While the regulation is yet to be fully ironed out, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFA) proposed a crypto licensing regime on Feb. 20, focused on providing consumer protections without stifling innovation.

So far, more than 80 virtual asset-related firms have expressed interest in setting up shop there,…