U.S. crypto regulatory uncertainty could be Hong Kong’s gain

Industry experts believe Hong Kong’s shifting attitude towards blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and Web3 could entice businesses away from the United States.

The city has made a series of moves over the past year to foster the development of the Web3 space and enable retail investment into cryptocurrencies. The latest example of this is the formation of its Task Force on Promoting Web3 Development.

Yat Siu, co-founder of Web3 investment firm Animoca Brands, is one of 15 industry experts invited to be an advisor to the task force, which will interface directly with key government officials and financial regulators.

Exciting news! Yat Siu (@ysiu), our co-founder and executive chairman, has been appointed to the Task Force on Promoting Web3 Development, established by the HKSAR government. Yat believes that the work of the Task Force will help to shape not only #HongKong but also globally… pic.twitter.com/8zEfwTez9I

— Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) July 3, 2023

In a wide ranging, exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Siu highlighted Hong Kong’s gradual change in attitude towards crypto and Web3 in recent years, which puts the city in a unique position to attract startups and established firms to its jurisdiction.

While conceding that the U.S. should not be ‘counted out’ of the Web3 race, Siu said that many firms in the sector are operating ‘under a regime of fear’ due to a lack of regulatory clarity. This has been exacerbated in recent months by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing separate charges against Binance.US and Coinbase for a raft of alleged unregistered securities offerings:

“The SEC doesn’t seem to be wanting to be consistent about this, in contrast to Hong Kong, or other jurisdictions like Japan, the Middle East or even Europe which have rules that are starting to become consistent.”

Siu said that Hong Kong has seen an opportunity to take a leadership position in terms of driving Web3 development while the U.S. seemingly ‘self-sabotaged’ its potential to be a prime destination for companies in the sector.

Hong Kong also held the cryptocurrency space at arms length for a number of years, with restrictive policies outlawing retail investment into cryptocurrencies only recently overturned after lengthy consultation with industry proponents.

Siu said that the government had demonstrated a level of ‘agility’ in its changing stance towards the industry, considering that it had not always been…