Hong Kong sharpens crypto hub focus amid rising global competition with new blueprint
Hong Kong is intensifying its bid to become a global digital asset (DA) hub with the release of an updated policy statement focused on accelerating
stablecoin use and tokenisation efforts, amid renewed momentum in the US this year.
'The government's highly anticipated Policy Statement 2.0, aimed at establishing Hong Kong as a global digital assets hub, comes at a time when Trump 2.0 is trying to make America the 'crypto capital of the planet',' said Andrew Fei, a partner at King & Wood Mallesons in Hong Kong.
The city on Thursday released its
'Policy Statement 2.0 on the Development of Digital Assets in Hong Kong' , an update to the first blueprint issued in late 2022, which first clarified the government's intent to court cryptocurrency business.
Hong Kong is committed to bringing itself 'to new heights of global digital asset leadership' in response to the 'evolving global DA landscape', the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) said in the policy statement.
The document comes as the US has rapidly become a more favourable environment for crypto companies this year, under the friendlier policies of the second administration of President
Donald Trump . Cryptocurrency values have surged since his election in November, which has also energised business activity in the sector.
Last week, the US Senate passed a bill regulating the use of stablecoins, called the Genius Act, after Hong Kong passed its own law on the assets in May. The Hong Kong ordinance will take effect on August 1.
It shows that the 'global race for digital assets innovation is well under way', Fei said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asia Times
28 minutes ago
- Asia Times
NATO summit shows Europe and US no longer have a common enemy
Mark Rutte had an unenviable task at the Hague summit this week. The NATO secretary-general had to work with diverging American and European views of current security threats. After Rutte made extraordinary efforts at highly deferential, overt flattery of Donald Trump to secure crucial outcomes for the alliance, he seems to have succeeded for now. But what this meeting and the run-up have made increasingly clear is that the US and Europe no longer perceive themselves as having a single common enemy. NATO was established in 1949 as a defensive alliance against the acknowledged threat from the USSR. This defined the alliance through the Cold War until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014, NATO has focused on Moscow as the major threat to international peace. But the increasingly bellicose China is demanding more attention from the US. There are some symbolic moves that signal how things are changing. Every NATO summit declaration since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has used the same form of words: 'We adhere to international law and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and are committed to upholding the rules-based international order.' The declaration published during the Hague summit on June 25 conspicuously does not mention either. Indeed, in a departure from recent declarations, the five paragraphs of the Hague summit declaration are brutally short and focused entirely on portraying the alliance solely in terms of military capability and economic investment to sustain that. No mention of international law and order this time. This appears to be a carefully orchestrated output of a deliberately shortened summit designed to contain Trump's unpredictable interventions. This also seems symptomatic of a widening division between the American strategic trajectory and the security interests perceived by Canada and the European members of NATO. That this declaration was so short, and so focused on such a narrow range of issues suggests there were unusually entrenched differences that could not be surmounted. Since the onslaught of the full Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the NATO allies have been united in their criticism of Russia and support for Ukraine; until now. Since January, the Trump administration has not authorized any military aid to Ukraine and significantly reduced material support to Ukraine and criticism of Russia. Trump has sought to end the war rapidly on terms effectively capitulating to Russian aggression; his proposal suggests recognizing Russia's control over Crimea and de facto control over some other occupied territories (Luhansk, parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson) He has also suggested Ukraine would not join NATO but might receive security guarantees and the right to join the EU. Meanwhile, European allies have sought to fund and support Ukraine's defensive efforts, increasing aid and military support, and continuing to ramp up sanctions. Another sign of the differing priorities of Europe and Canada versus the US was the decision by Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, to step back from leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an ad-hoc coalition of states worldwide providing military support to Ukraine. Hegseth also symbolically failed to attend the group's pre-summit meeting in June. Trump has long been adamant that NATO members should meet their 2014 commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, and Rutte recognized that. In 2018, Trump suggested that this should be increased to 4 or 5% but this was dismissed as unreasonable. Now, in a decision which indicates increasing concern about both Russia as a threat and US support, NATO members (except for Spain) have agreed to increase spending to 5% of GDP on defense over the next 10 years. NATO's Article 3 requires states to maintain and develop their capacity to resist attack. However, since 2022, it has become increasingly apparent that many NATO members are unprepared for any major military engagement. At the same time, they are increasingly feeling that Russia is more of a threat on their doorsteps. There has been recognition, particularly among the Baltic states, Germany, France and the UK, that they need to increase their military spending and preparedness. For the US to focus more on China, US forces will shift a greater percentage of the US Navy to the Pacific. It will also assign its most capable new ships and aircraft to the region and increase general presence operations, training and developmental exercises, and engagement and cooperation with allied and other navies in the western Pacific. To do this US forces will need to reduce commitments in Europe, and European allies must replace those capabilities in order to sustain deterrence against Russia. The bedrock of the NATO treaty, Article 5, is commonly paraphrased as 'an attack on one is an attack on all.' On his way to the Hague summit, Trump seemed unsure about the US commitment to NATO. Asked to clarify this at the summit, he stated: 'I stand with it [Article 5]. That's why I'm here. If I didn't stand with it, I wouldn't be here.' Lord Ismay, the first secretary-general of NATO, famously (if apocryphally) suggested that the purpose of the alliance was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down. Germany is now an integral part of NATO, and the Americans are in, if distracted. But there are cracks, and Rutte will have his hands full managing Trump's declining interest in protecting Europe if he is to keep the Russians at bay. Andrew Corbett is a senior lecturer in defense studies at King's College London. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
US-China rare earth agreement, Xi set to miss Brics summit: SCMP's 7 highlights
We have selected seven stories from the SCMP's coverage over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing The United States and China reached a 'framework' agreement on how to facilitate rare earth shipments, implementing a deal based on bilateral trade talks that started last month in Geneva, Switzerland, the White House said. Confirmation of the agreement came shortly after US President Donald Trump said the US had signed a trade deal with Beijing a day earlier, offering no further details. People celebrate the ceasefire between Iran and Israel at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran, on June 24. The ceasefire was declared on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua A frustrated US President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that the ceasefire between Iran and Israel remains 'in effect', even as he rebuked both nations for violating it. This public warning followed his earlier castigation of Iran, but particularly close US ally Israel, for launching attacks after the ceasefire, which he had originally announced late Monday. Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend next week's Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, marking his first-ever absence from the gathering of leading emerging economies, the Post learned from multiple sources on Tuesday.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
New World gets 100% backing from banks for US$11 billion refinancing of loans, sources say
Distressed Hong Kong builder New World Development has secured written commitments from all banks for a HK$87.5 billion (US$11.1 billion) loan refinancing, people familiar with the matter said, bringing it closer to finalising the critical lifeline just days before a deadline. The deal is all but done, with only procedural steps left for lenders to sign the loan documents, which should happen shortly, according to the people. It brings relief just as investors had been closely watching debt deadlines including interest totalling US$9.2 million due on Friday and Monday on three local-currency bonds. New World's refinancing – which would be one of the largest of its kind ever in Hong Kong – marks the end of months-long negotiations for a debt package that would pull it from the brink of default. It buys time even as a prolonged property downturn in China continues to weigh on the builder, whose 11 Skies mall project opening in phases next to Hong Kong's airport is one of the first things many visitors to the city see. The deal comes with little time to spare. Documentation shows that if New World did not achieve a 100 per cent approval by June 30, the refinancing could fall through as any collateral pledged would be released and bank commitments cancelled. Controlled by the family empire of Hong Kong tycoon Henry Cheng, New World has faced significant challenges amid the real estate slump in Hong Kong and mainland China, following years of aggressive debt-driven growth. Investors have grown increasingly concerned about the firm's ability to manage its debt, particularly after it decided to delay interest payments on four perpetual notes, triggering a bond sell-off. The refinancing agreement would push back HK$63.4 billion of borrowings that were set to come due this year and next, extending the maturities for three years, Bloomberg reported earlier. For HK$24.1 billion in loans due in 2027 and beyond, the maturities would remain the same, but New World will have to add some credit enhancements and put up additional collateral.
