Welcome to read Techub News’ “Hong Kong Web3 Weekly Events” last week. In this weekly report, we will sort out the major events and developments in the Hong Kong Web3 field from August 5 to August 11 for you, and also provide the latest data insights and detailed event previews to help you quickly and comprehensively understand the progress of the Hong Kong Web3 field last week.
August 5th last week is destined to go down in history. The US macroeconomic data was far below expectations, Asian financial markets were bloodbathed on Monday, and Bitcoin fell by more than 33% in one day. What is the reason behind this?
Hot News
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority published a review report on virtual banks today. According to the review results, the development of virtual banks has achieved the three policy objectives of introducing virtual banks in Hong Kong. In addition, the innovative banking business model of virtual banks using technology as the driving force has been widely accepted in the Hong Kong market. As of the end of 2023, the number of depositors of virtual banks reached 2.2 million. The market response to the products and services provided by the eight virtual banks is ideal. At the same time, the HKMA also launched a one-month public consultation on the proposal to change the name of "virtual banks" to "digital banks" today. It is expected that the proposed new name will more effectively reflect the current banking business model of virtual banks.
2. Hong Kong virtual bank Mox Bank will launch virtual asset ETF trading services
Hong Kong virtual bank Mox Bank announced that it will launch virtual asset ETF trading services. The bank also plans to expand its cryptocurrency products, including allowing direct purchase and trading of crypto assets through cooperation with licensed exchanges in the future.
Mox Bank is a virtual bank jointly established by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), PCCW, HKT and Trip.com.
Chen Zhongni, a member of the Legislative Council of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, wrote an article entitled "Empowering the Application Development of Web3 in the Financial Industry", in which he pointed out that the Hong Kong government must vigorously develop Web3 infrastructure that can support the long-term development of Web3. In view of the defects of the current mainstream public blockchain platforms in terms of privacy protection, Hong Kong should support the development of basic blockchain platforms with security, privacy protection, high efficiency, low cost, energy saving, compliance, modularity and global vision, and invest more resources and technologies to encourage scientific research and innovation, and formulate policies and regulations to provide support for the development of blockchain technology.
At the same time, Hong Kong must actively guide the exploration of innovative combinations of Web3 and traditional finance, such as data connectivity between government departments and banks, traditional financial payments and settlements, personal and corporate credit business, supply chain finance, etc., promote the standardization of asset chain protocols, and formulate and introduce the RWA token circulation legal system in a timely manner to promote seamless integration, data sharing and asset transfer between the two ecosystems of traditional finance and virtual assets.
4. Mannings Shopping cooperates with Bank of China (Hong Kong) to launch digital RMB payment service
According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, Bank of China (Hong Kong) announced that it will cooperate with Mannings to further expand Hong Kong's digital RMB payment services. Mannings in Hong Kong has more than 300 branches across the board, and from now on, it will support customers to use digital RMB for offline consumption payments, providing mainland tourists with diversified payment options. When customers use digital RMB to pay, they only need to show the merchant the digital RMB payment code, and the merchant scans the code to complete the transaction. Bank of China (Hong Kong) will convert its digital RMB into Hong Kong dollars to help merchants conduct cross-border settlements, and customers do not need to exchange in advance.
According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, KPMG released the "Financial Technology Trends" report, which shows that the Asia-Pacific region pays more attention to the development and launch of virtual currencies and real-world asset tokens. Major financial hubs such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan are committed to balancing innovation and regulation. While protecting the rights and interests of investors, they continue to explore and approve activities that integrate traditional finance and decentralized finance.
The Hong Kong government is actively developing cryptocurrency regulation to support cryptocurrency trading and other related activities. In the first half of 2024, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched the second phase of the e-HKD pilot program and promoted the development of Hong Kong into an international virtual asset center through various initiatives to attract cryptocurrency companies and enhance Hong Kong's financial ecosystem.
6. Jeffrey Ding, Chief Analyst of HashKey Group: We will build a public chain with Hong Kong characteristics based on compliance
At the "FORESIGHT 2024" annual summit, Jeffrey Ding, chief analyst of HashKey Group, said in the roundtable forum "Incremental Growth of Hong Kong's Crypto Market", "From August last year to now, the growth of retail users + the entry of hundreds of companies and institutions has brought about the accumulation of trading growth potential, and the opening of fiat currency transactions has driven the growth of asset precipitation. There will be major moves on August 28th, the anniversary celebration of HashKey. Compared with other markets, Hong Kong itself is more stable and better."
Regarding the HashKey public chain, he said: "We want to build a public chain with Hong Kong characteristics, which may be based on compliance routes, such as institutional participation in node construction/introduction of Hong Kong compliant users, etc. Overall, both the construction and background are different from the previous ecology."
7. Yuanbi Technology CEO: Solving the pain points of Hong Kong dollar stablecoin payment and compliance, Hong Kong will be the next incremental stablecoin market
At the "FORESIGHT 2024" annual summit, RD Technologies CEO Rita Liu stated in the roundtable forum "Incremental Volume of Hong Kong's Crypto Market" that from the perspective of the stablecoin track, solving the pain points in the current market means incremental volume, and payment is a pain point in traditional finance. The problems existing in the traditional transfer system could have been solved by stablecoins using blockchain technology. An important reason why stablecoins have not been promoted is compliance.
In addition, in terms of underlying assets, the advantage of the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin is that it has the regulatory support of the Hong Kong government. Therefore, Yuanbi Technology believes that the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin is the next market to increase, but large-scale changes in the financial market cannot be achieved overnight, and long-term efforts are required to solve these problems.
Hong Kong Customs cracked a virtual currency money laundering case involving HK$1.5 billion
According to RTHK, Hong Kong Customs recently uncovered a case of money laundering using virtual currency and arrested four men. The suspects were accused of receiving a large amount of overseas cross-border remittances through multiple shell companies and laundering HK$1.5 billion using virtual currency. Currently, all the arrested persons have been released on bail pending investigation, and assets of about HK$2.2 million in their bank accounts have been frozen.
Industry Observation
Last week, the US macroeconomic data was far below expectations. On Monday, the Asian financial market was bloodbathed. Bitcoin fell by more than 33% in one day. What is the reason behind this? How does the Federal Reserve affect cryptocurrencies? What is the attitude of the new Democratic presidential candidate Harris team towards cryptocurrencies?
"The Bank of Japan raises interest rates? The U.S. economy is in recession? What is the underlying logic behind the Bitcoin crash?"
August 5, 2024, is destined to go down in history. With the July non-farm payrolls data in the United States far below expectations and the unemployment rate unexpectedly soaring, the market began to worry that the US economy would fall into recession. After a short period of "peace and tranquility" over the weekend, Asian financial markets were bloodbathed as soon as they opened on Monday. Japanese and Korean stock markets triggered circuit breakers one after another, and Bitcoin fell from nearly $60,000 at 4 a.m. today to $49,000.
Asset prices usually rise slowly, one step at a time, but often a one- or two-day drop is enough to recoup months or even years of gains. Will the short-lived “bloodbath” in the financial market this time reverse as quickly as it did in early 2020, or will it continue to fall?
How does the Federal Reserve affect stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other investments?
Over the past few years, higher interest rates have had an impact on stocks, cryptocurrencies, and commodities like oil. But what can investors expect from it, and how long will the interest rate environment affect the market?
"What is Harris's potential running mate's attitude towards Crypto?"
How will Harris’ choice of vice president affect U.S. cryptocurrency policy? This article takes a look at the top candidates for the position and how they rank in terms of blockchain technology.
Data Insights
Hong Kong Bitcoin & Ethereum Spot ETF Inflow and Outflow
According to SoSoValue data, the net redemption volume of Hong Kong's Bitcoin spot ETF last week was about 64.96 coins, with a total holding value of approximately US$271 million, and an increase in holding value of approximately US$42 million; the net subscription volume of Ethereum spot ETF was about 1,630 coins, with a total holding value of approximately US$39 million, and a decrease in holding value of approximately US$2 million.
Upcoming Events
Hong Kong Institution Night will be held at the Murray, Hong Kong from 19:00 to 22:30 on August 14. This exclusive dinner is co-organized by Legend Trading, Circle, RD Technologies, Cobo and Stella Pay.
Invites institutional decision makers to attend this exclusive dinner. This invitation-only event will provide a rich dialogue and in-depth discussion on the future development prospects of Hong Kong's institutional Web3 market. You will meet more than 150 executives from Hong Kong's top banks and crypto institutions.
BUIDL on Ethereum in Hong Kong
BUIDL on Ethereum in Hong Kong will be held on August 15th from 15:30 - 18:00 in Hong Kong. The event is a gathering for developers who want to get involved in the Ethereum ecosystem. It embraces emerging technology trends in the web3 space, featuring builders of EVM-compatible projects, showing how to build on top of the latest zero-knowledge proof and AI infrastructure. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about upcoming community initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region, including city-based Ethereum meetups, conferences and hackathons, as well as the Ethereum Foundation's own Devcon Southeast Asia edition, which will be held in Bangkok from November 12th to 15th, 2024.
Guests attending the conference include:
Cathie, Chief Scientist of ORA Protocol
Haw Dong, Head of Ecosystem, APAC, Reactive Network
Ian, Co-founder of OpenBuild
Jane, co-founder of zkLend
Alex, Founder and CEO of zkMe
Hong Kong Cyberport DELF 2024: Artificial Intelligence Drives Web 3.0 Entertainment Innovation
DELF 2024 was held at Hong Kong Cyberport from August 16 to August 18. The three-day event brought together representatives from leading digital entertainment companies and star speakers to discuss how emerging technologies such as AI, high-performance computing (HPC) and Web 3.0 will shape the future of digital entertainment and smart life. The forum invited more than 60 star experts from many well-known international and local technology companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Alibaba, Baidu, Foxconn, Xiaohongshu, Dell, NVIDIA, BytePlus, Meta, teamLab, 9GAG & Memeland, ESRI, and FATface under One Creative Commons, as well as representatives from institutions such as the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Baptist University, and Cornell University to attend the forum seminar to share their professional insights on using technologies such as AI and Web 3.0 to promote digital entertainment, cultural tourism, and smart life.
One2Cloud cloud service provider third anniversary celebration will be held at SugarV by Vsing, Megabox, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong (13th Floor) on August 16, 2024 at 18:00.
One2Cloud is celebrating its third anniversary and we invite you to celebrate the extraordinary journey of growth, innovation and cloud success over the past three years. From a small office to a leader in cloud distribution in Asia and around the world, it has been an amazing journey and your support and companionship have been key to our success.
TON Builders Day HK - Aug Meetup
"TON Builders Day HK" Ton Developer Day will be held on August 17 from 14:00 to 19:00 on Hong Kong Island. TON Builders Day HK is an event for start-up projects, investment institutions and ecosystem builders organized by TON Society Hong Kong, aiming to discover innovative projects and promote ecological cooperation. For TON Builders, you can not only share ideas and showcase projects, but also meet like-minded partners. Whether you are a team just starting out or a developer with project experience, you can find your own stage here.
