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Hong Kong (HKSAR) to continue support of local digital asset community, chief executive says

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Hong Kong (HKSAR) to continue support of local digital asset community, chief executive says

HONG KONG — Hong Kong is a growing locale for Web3 and crypto innovation, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

John KC Lee, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, opened CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference with a brief speech about the city’s work to grow its crypto communities and businesses.

“The HKSAR Government is committed to establishing Hong Kong as a global hub for innovation in digital assets,” he said in taped remarks. “That’s why over the past few years, Hong Kong has been actively building the regulatory framework to promote the steady and sustainable development of our Web3 ecosystem.”

Hong Kong is positioned to take advantage of both growing crypto efforts and its existing position operating close to China and the broader financial markets, Lee said.

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“Under the unique ‘one country, two systems’ principle, Hong Kong is the only city that converges both the China advantage and the global advantage,” he said. “… What’s more, Hong Kong’s financial regulatory system is robust, and our financial market stands out for its deep liquidity, innovative products and world-class investor protection.”

More specifically, he pointed to Hong Kong’s efforts in crypto, including last year’s policy statement on digital asset regulation and stablecoin work.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is close to issuing licenses for stablecoin issuers, he said, saying that the first licenses may come out in the next month.

Similarly, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission is working to grow the region’s virtual asset market liquidity to further “facilitate the development of this vibrant area of growth.”

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“Hong Kong is in a strong position in promoting Web3 development,” he said. “Hong Kong will continue to go all out to stay at the forefront of this pivotal shift in finance and technology. We welcome companies and institutions from around the world to join hands with us, and build a brighter digital future together.”

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Crypto World

Crypto Speculation Era Ending As Institutions Enter Market

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Crypto Speculation Era Ending As Institutions Enter Market

The days of outsized gains in crypto may be coming to an end as more risk-averse institutional players are entering the space, replacing retail investors who chase rapid gains, according to Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz.

Novogratz reportedly said at the CNBC Digital Finance Forum on Tuesday in New York that it reflects the maturing industry. 

“Retail people don’t get into crypto because they want to make 11% annualized,” he said. “They get in because they want to make 30 to one, eight to one, 10 to one,” he said. 

Novogratz referenced FTX’s collapse in 2022, which resulted in a bear market that saw Bitcoin (BTC) prices fall 78% from $69,000 to $15,700 in November that year, stating that there was a “breakdown in trust” then. 

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Novogratz also acknowledged that the Oct. 10 leverage flush, which he called a significant event that “wiped out a lot of retail and market makers,” and increased selling pressure — though there wasn’t any major catalyst.

“This time, there’s no smoking gun,” he said. “You look around like, what happened?”

“Crypto is all about narratives, it’s about stories,” he said. “Those stories take a while to build, and you’re pulling people in … so when you wipe out a lot of those people, Humpty Dumpty doesn’t get put back together right away.”

Tokenized real-world assets will drive markets

Novogratz said he expects the industry to shift from high-return speculation to more practical applications, such as tokenized real-world assets that offer steadier returns.

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However, some traders will always speculate, said Novogratz, but it’s going to be “transposed or replaced by us using these same rails, these crypto rails, to bring banking [and] financial services to the whole world. And so, it’s going to be real-world assets with much lower returns.”

Related: Chainlink co-founder’s 2 reasons this bear market feels different

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov made a similar argument on Tuesday, stating that tokenized RWAs will “surpass cryptocurrency in the total value in our industry, and what our industry is about will fundamentally change.”

Long-term Bitcoin believers will be fine

David Marcus, the co-founder and CEO of Lightspark and a former PayPal executive, told Bloomberg on Tuesday that there has also been a shift in who is holding Bitcoin

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“It’s just a change of who’s holding Bitcoin, and you’re moving from people that had long-term belief and were holding Bitcoin directly to just access to Bitcoin being wired off to our financial system and markets.”

He added that the change in holders and the Oct. 10 leverage flush have changed the dynamic, but those who have long believed that Bitcoin is a “hedge to everything else that’s happening in the markets” will be fine.

David Marcus speaks on Bitcoin holder changes. Source: Bloomberg

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