Hong Kong has been stepping up its attempts to become Asia’s prime hub for trading digital assets, including a series of new regulations to achieve its ambition of attracting global investors. The move comes as competition from the US and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, led by Singapore, intensifies.
Law practices in the Chinese territory have been supporting lenders in the rollout of pioneering products, including digital bonds and tokenised gold, that are designed to grab the territory a slice of this global digital asset market with an estimated market capitalisation of $3tn.
“Hong Kong wants to make itself a digital hub. A lot is happening,” says Chin-Chong Liew, a Hong Kong-based capital markets partner at law firm Linklaters, who has advised clients on digital assets and tokenisation. “Regulators are looking at this and trying to facilitate growth.”