Hong Kong takes on Singapore for Asia’s crypto crown
Hong Kong has kicked off a contest to become Asia’s crypto capital as investors and executives warn rival Singapore may be squandering its head start with its pivot to stricter regulation.
The sudden shift in Hong Kong last week towards clear rules for retail investors to trade digital assets follows years of ambiguity from regulators. That made some companies reluctant to build up a greater presence in the city, and capitalise on demand from mainland China, where crypto trading is outlawed.
Underscoring the problem, Huobi Global, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, last week confirmed it would move its headquarters out of China, and was looking at the Caribbean.
Singapore says it is still “embracing” crypto but focusing on institutional markets.
“We are embracing fully the underlying technologies of distributed ledgers and the potential that they have to transform financial markets,” said Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s deputy prime minister, as he opened its conference.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:William Langley
