
HK comments leave the door open to use of cryptocurrencies as proof of wealth
HONG KONG, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government has responded for the first time to questions about the use of cryptocurrencies as proof of wealth for an immigration scheme after a local accountant talked publicly about two cases that had accepted the digital assets.
Clement Siu, a Hong Kong-based certified public accountant, told media he had handled two cases where bitcoin and ether were used as proof of clients' assets.
Cryptocurriences are not approved assets for direct investment under the immigration scheme, but Siu's cases suggested they can be used as proof of a potential immigrant's wealth, underscoring their growing recognition as a mainstream asset.
Hong Kong's investment promotion department, InvestHK, which handles applications for the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES), said there were "no specific requirements" around asset classes when asked if cryptocurrencies were acceptable assets.
Hong Kong relaunched an investment immigration scheme in March 2024 to attract capital. Applicants must show they control assets worth at least HK$30 million ($3.9 million), and then invest that in some approved assets in order to obtain residency.
"InvestHK has never said whether crypto assets are acceptable or not, but they encouraged us to give it a try, so we just tried," Siu, a deputy managing partner at Global Vision CPA Limited, which issues accountant reports for immigration applicants, told Reuters.
InvestHK did not comment specifically on the cases Siu highlighted and did not say how many immigration applications had been accepted using cryptocurrencies as proof of wealth.
Hong Kong is competing against regional rivals such as Singapore and Dubai to become the global hub for virtual assets.
"Accepting virtual assets as proof of assets shows that virtual assets have the same status as traditional assets in Hong Kong, this is an important step in promoting the mainstreaming of virtual assets," said Jupiter Zheng, a partner at HashKey Capital.
Hong Kong's investment immigration scheme is not open to mainland Chinese, but they can circumvent this restriction if they obtain permanent residence in a third country, analysts say. That could raise concerns about potential evasion of China's capital controls.
Siu said one of his clients who used ether as proof of wealth was a Chinese national holding Guinea-Bissau residency.
Hong Kong government data for June showed that nearly 80% of more than 250 New CIES applicants were from Guinea-Bissau or Vanuatu.
($1=7.78 Hong Kong dollars)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Coin Geek
2 hours ago
- Coin Geek
Hong Kong bares plan to allow digital asset derivates trading
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Hong Kong's top finance sector regulator plans to permit digital asset derivatives for professional investors, according to a June 4 report by local outlet China Daily HK. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) reportedly aims to introduce digital asset derivatives trading for professional investors as part of a broader strategy to expand product offerings and reinforce the territory's role as a fintech powerhouse. The SFC said that priority will be given to sound risk management, with trades conducted 'in an orderly, transparent and secure manner.' Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary Christopher Hui Ching-yu confirmed the digital asset derivates plan, while suggesting that Hong Kong is also optimizing its tax framework to attract more international players. Based on the proposed tax rules, digital assets will qualify for concessions under Hong Kong's preferential tax regime for funds, single-family offices, and carried interest. These are just the latest initiatives in a recent push by Hong Kong's lawmakers and regulators to make the special administrative region a more hospitable environment for digital assets and a global hub for the industry. In February, the regulator released its roadmap for 'a brighter future,' in which it set out a five-pillar framework intended to serve as a strategic action plan for addressing emerging new priorities in the digital asset space and, in the SFC's words, 'future-proofing Hong Kong's VA [virtual asset] ecosystem.' The special administrative region's increased embracing of the sector comes as the global digital asset market surpassed $3 trillion in value, with annual trading volumes exceeding $70 trillion, based on SFC data published alongside the roadmap. HK's road to digital asset hub Since its first digital asset policy statement, published by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) in October 2022, the region has significantly broadened its market offerings and regulatory guidance. The very same month AS the first policy statement, Hong Kong introduced Asia's first digital asset futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This set the trend for what was to follow, and in April last year, the SFC approved the applications of several spot BTC and ETH ETFs. The following month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)—the central bank of the special administrative region—announced that it had partnered with the People's Bank of China (PBoC) to expand the scope of the digital yuan, allowing residents to set up digital yuan wallets and make payments at local merchant stores. This made it the first region beyond mainland China to support the central bank digital currency (CBDC). In September 2024, the HKMA partnered with the SFC to co-announce their intent to adopt reporting requirements set by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for digital asset over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. The region's embracing of the digital asset sector continued into 2025, and in January the HKMA launched a new initiative to support local banks as they launch blockchain products, with tokenization as a key focus areas. Officially known as the 'Supervisory Incubator for Distributed Ledger Technology,' it will primarily focus on the risks that arise as banks transition from experimentation to production of blockchain services. The HKMA described the incubator as a 'new supervisory arrangement' that will allow local banks to 'maximize the potential benefits of DLT adoption by effectively managing the associated risks.' In terms of a full regulatory framework for digital assets, last August, Hong Kong Legislative Council member David Chiu hinted that the territory could introduce enhanced digital asset regulations within the next 18 months. 'The digital asset industry has made significant progress in the past few years, but we are still in a very early stage,' said Chiu, speaking at the third annual Foresight Conference in Hong Kong on August 11, 2024. He went on to outline the city's strategic plans to attract tech talent, build supportive infrastructure, and establish robust supervision, saying that 'we should establish a sound exchange system and soon introduce legislation related to stablecoins.' It didn't take long for this legislative pledge to come to fruition, as in May this year Hong Kong became the first common-law jurisdiction to give fiat-backed stablecoins a dedicated act of their own—the Stablecoins Ordinance—placing the HKMA in charge of licensing their issuers. The new ordinance balances the core imperatives of advancing innovation and maintaining financial stability, giving hope that the broader digital asset space will get similar regulatory treatment in the region, while also laying down a marker to lawmakers around the globe still grappling with stablecoin and digital asset legislation. Watch: Richard Baker on engineering a smarter financial world with blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">


Business News Wales
5 hours ago
- Business News Wales
Wynne Construction Secures Multi-Million-Pound Contracts with Welsh Housing Association
A Denbighshire-based construction firm has been awarded a duo of design and build contracts totalling more than £20 million by North Wales' largest housing association. Wynne Construction began building a new 47-home social housing complex on Berse Road, Wrexham, in March following its appointment from Adra. With a scheduled completion date of autumn 2026, the £9 million development will consist of apartments and a mixture of two, three, and four-bedroom homes that are available to rent. The contractor is also set to build 49 social houses on Abergele Road, Bodelwyddan, a stone's throw away from its headquarters. Work is expected to start this summer and finish in spring 2027, with the design phase of the £11 million project already underway. Wynne Construction commercial director Simon Moreton said: 'We have previously worked on behalf of Adra on major builds including Plas Penhros and Pen Y Ffridd, so I'm looking forward to continuing our positive relationship. 'As usual, we will engage with local suppliers to not only provide the necessary materials, but to boost the region's economy.' Wynne Construction quantity surveyor Corey Jones said: 'With around 80 to 100 people expected to work on each site at peak times, both developments will have a busy environment, but thanks to our experienced and skilled team members, I'm confident we will deliver quality results. 'In addition, we aim to give back to the community by welcoming apprentices and work experience students on site to give them real insight into the construction industry.' Huw Evans, Adra's Head of Development, said: 'We're delighted to be working with Wynne Construction on these two exciting new developments. 'We have a strong track record of working in partnership with the company to build new homes across North Wales. There is an increasing demand for quality, affordable homes that people can be proud of and we have made a firm commitment in our Corporate Plan to continue with our ambitious development programme. 'We look forward to see the work progressing on the Berse Road site and the works getting underway at Bodelwyddan. Wynne Construction operates throughout Wales and the North West of England, and regularly leads on projects in sectors including education, social housing, healthcare, and sport and leisure. The company is also on the North Wales Construction Partnership (NWCP), Pagabo's Medium Works Framework, the South-East and mid-Wales Collaborative Construction Framework (SEWSCAP3) and the South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework (SSWRCF).


Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
TRADING DAY London calling, stocks crawling higher
ORLANDO, Florida, June 9 (Reuters) - TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist I'm excited to announce that I'm now part of Reuters Open Interest (ROI), an essential new source for data-driven, expert commentary on market and economic trends. You can find ROI on the Reuters website, and you can follow us on LinkedIn and X. Trade tensions, policy uncertainty and shaky economic data continue to cloud the near-term outlook for world growth, but they remain on the back burner for now as investors kick off the week by pushing global stock markets higher. In my column today I look at why the dollar has depreciated significantly this year regardless of how U.S. stocks and bonds have performed. The main reason? Hedging. More on that below, but first, a roundup of the main market moves. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Today's Key Market Moves London calling, stocks crawling higher It was a fairly quiet start to the week across global markets on Monday, with strong equity gains in Asia followed by a grind higher on Wall Street which lifted the MSCI World index to a fresh record high. The main areas of focus for investors were China's economic 'data dump' for May, then the high-level U.S.-China trade talks in London. The two are connected - the U.S. is a less important market for China than it used to be, underscored in May's trade figures from Beijing and reflected in the lack of concrete progress from the negotiations in London. China's total exports rose 4.8% in May from a year earlier but this masks a huge split between the U.S. and the rest of the world. Exports to the U.S. plunged 34.4% year-on-year in value terms, the sharpest drop since February 2020 just before the pandemic, while exports to the rest of the world rose 11.4%. Monthly data are volatile, of course, and May's figures were also distorted by tariffs. Still, U.S.-bound shipments worth $28.8 billion last month were just 9% of the total $316 billion. Economist Phil Suttle notes that is less than half the average share in the decade leading up to President Donald Trump's first trade war. The London talks are expected to continue on Tuesday. But as was the case following Trump's telephone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, there is little indication of a significant breakthrough, far less China bending to U.S. demands. "U.S. Treasury Secretaries who live in unbalanced economies might not want to throw barbs such as the 'most unbalanced in modern history' at China without first looking at some data," Suttle wrote on Monday. "The choice to fight an opponent should be conditioned on a clear-headed view of its strengths and weaknesses. The U.S. has done a marvelous job of (once again) deluding itself on this front," Suttle added. Still, divisions between the two countries and the threat to global supply chains are proving no barrier to rising stock markets. Japan's Nikkei and the MSCI emerging and Asia ex-Japan indexes rose around 1%, Hong Kong-listed tech stocks rose nearly 3%, and Wall Street closed in the green. Meanwhile, the dollar's trend this year of declining despite U.S. stocks and bonds rising was on full display on Monday. Wall Street closed slightly higher and Treasury yields fell as much as 5 basis points at the short end of the curve, yet the dollar slipped. Many analysts say one of the main reasons for this is non-U.S. investor hedging - more on that below. Dollar floored as investors seek that extra hedge All three major U.S. asset classes – stocks, bonds and the currency – have had a turbulent 2025 thus far, but only one has failed to weather the storm: the dollar. Hedging may be a major reason why. Wall Street's three main indices and the ICE BofA U.S. Treasury index are all slightly higher for the year to date, despite the post-'Liberation Day' volatility, while the dollar has steadily ground lower, losing around 10% of its value against a basket of major currencies and breaking long-standing correlations along the way. The dollar was perhaps primed for a fall. It's easy to forget, but only a few months ago the 'U.S. exceptionalism' narrative was alive and well, and the dollar scaling heights rarely seen in the past two decades. But that narrative has evaporated, as U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial economic policies and isolationist posture on the global stage have made investors reconsider their exposure to U.S. assets. But why is the dollar feeling the burn more than stocks or bonds? Non-U.S. investors often protect themselves against sharp currency fluctuations via the forward, futures or options markets. The difference now is that the risk premium being built into U.S. assets is pushing them – especially equity holders – to hedge their dollar exposure more than they have in the past. Foreign investors have long hedged their bond exposure, with dollar hedge ratios traditionally around 70% to 100%, according to Morgan Stanley, as currency moves can easily wipe out modest bond returns. But non-U.S. equity investors have been much more loath to pay for protection, with dollar hedge ratios averaging between 10% and 30%. This is partly because the dollar was traditionally seen as a 'natural' hedge against stock market exposure, as it would typically rise in 'risk off' periods when stocks fell. The dollar would also normally appreciate when the U.S. economy and markets were thriving – the so-called 'Dollar Smile' – giving an additional boost to U.S. equity returns in good times. A good barometer of global 'real money' investors' view on the dollar is how willing foreign pension and insurance funds are to hedge their dollar-denominated assets. Recent data on Danish funds' currency hedging is revealing. Danish funds' U.S. asset hedge ratio surged to around 75% from around 65% between February and April. According to Deutsche Bank analysts, that 10 percentage point rise is the largest two-month increase in over a decade. Anecdotal evidence suggests similar shifts are taking place across Scandinavia, the euro zone and Canada, regions where dollar exposure is also high. The $266 billion Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan reported a $6.9 billion foreign currency gain last year, mainly due to the stronger dollar. Unless the fund has increased its hedging ratio this year, it will be sitting on huge foreign currency losses. "Investors had embraced U.S. exceptionalism and were overweight U.S. assets. But now, investors are increasing their hedging," says Sophia Drossos, economist and strategist at the hedge fund Point72. And there is a lot of dollar exposure to hedge. At the end of March foreign investors held $33 trillion of U.S. securities, with $18.4 trillion in equities and $14.6 trillion in debt instruments. The dollar's malaise has upended its traditional relationships with stocks and bonds. Its generally negative correlation with stocks has reversed, as has the usually positive correlation with bonds. The divergence with Treasuries has gained more attention, with the dollar diving as yields have risen. But as Deutsche Bank's George Saravelos notes, the correlation breakdown with stocks is "very unusual". When Wall Street has fallen this year the dollar has fallen too, but at a much faster pace. And when Wall Street has risen the dollar has also bounced, but only slightly. This has led to the strongest positive correlation between the dollar and S&P 500 in years, though that's a bit deceptive, as the dollar is sharply down on the year while stocks are mildly stronger. Of course, what we could be seeing is simply a rebalancing. Saravelos estimates that global fixed income and equity managers' dollar exposure was at near record-high levels in the run-up to the recent trade war. This was a "cyclical" phenomenon over the last couple of years rather than a deep-rooted structural one based on fundamentals, meaning it could be reversed relatively quickly. But, regardless, the dollar's hedging headwind seems likely to persist. "Given the size of foreign holdings of both stocks and bonds, even a modest uptick in hedge ratios could prove a considerable FX flow," Morgan Stanley's FX strategy team wrote last month. "As long as uncertainty and volatility persist, we think that hedge ratios are likely to rise as investors ride out the storm." What could move markets tomorrow? Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.