As the June 1st date approached, the excitement among cryptocurrency investors grew. However, the expected outcome did not materialize. It was more of a case of high expectations rather than a dream come true. Hong Kong took a highly positive step towards cryptocurrencies, but it seems unlikely that the fruits of this move will be seen in just a few months.
Hong Kong and Cryptocurrencies
Yat Siu, the co-founder of Animoca, an Asia-based gaming software company, believes that Hong Kong’s rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies and Web3 is a sign of some “major moves” happening on the Chinese mainland.
According to Siu, the current crypto trend in Hong Kong is “not just about the city-state” but more broadly related to China, despite China’s ban on cryptocurrencies.
Siu mentioned in his speech at the Ethereum Community Conference today that China released its Web3 white paper in May and stated that the government emphasized that “Web3 is essentially the future of the internet.” Siu emphasized the significance of this news coming just a few days after Hong Kong officially announced its plans to allow individual cryptocurrency investments.
The Future of Cryptocurrencies
While Siu did not mention cryptocurrencies when discussing China’s Web3 plans, he emphasized the importance of the budget allocated to progress in this area. Web3 is being built by crypto-focused companies today, and it is difficult to separate tokenized assets from cryptocurrencies. Siu said:
“This is interesting because it’s not just about what’s happening in Hong Kong. We can really say that it’s a message coming from the top. And Hong Kong doesn’t do anything without China’s approval.”
Siu also argued in his opening speech that Web3 is a powerful tool to create “a new technological paradigm” to challenge the technological hegemony of the United States. He specifically referred to the potential security risks of nations’ dependence on technology giants like Google, Apple, and Facebook, saying:
“This is actually another major agenda item, so Japan, Korea, China, all these places are really pushing Web3 in a big way because they see it as an opportunity to break away from technologies under US dominance.”
Yat Siu, the co-founder of Animoca, believes that cryptocurrencies are heading towards a brighter future with the support of Asia.
