On a warm April day, thousands of attendees from mainland China, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and the United States flocked to the Hong Kong Convention Center for the city’s first web3 festival. Hong Kong recently proposed welcoming rules to regulate crypto-related activities, allowing retail investors to trade certain digital assets on licensed exchanges and paving the way to legalize stablecoins. The move is in contrast to Beijing’s crackdown on the crypto industry and highlights Hong Kong’s policy exceptions in certain areas, such as finance. Chinese crypto entrepreneurs who previously fled to Singapore are considering moving back, and Western companies are also looking at Hong Kong as a potential hub for their Asia expansion. While some see Hong Kong’s move as a sudden shift in government attitude, others view it as a reflection of the city’s policy consistency.
