Paul Chan Mo-po, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, has reaffirmed his support for blockchain technology, labelling it as the forthcoming surge of “ground-breaking growth” in the digital tech sector.
In a blog post-dated August 27, Chan asserted that nascent sub-sectors within Web3, such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), GameFi, Play-to-Earn gaming, and immersive entertainment, are poised to spearhead the next era of digital amusement. Chan’s remarks followed his attendance at a three-day blockchain-centric event, the Digital Entertainment Leaders Forum, held at Cyberport in Hong Kong.
Cyberport, a 25-hectare mixed-use technological and multimedia center, offers grants, funding, and office spaces to a diverse array of companies spanning the tech, digital entertainment, and finance industries.
Significantly, Chan disclosed that he had earlier this year earmarked an extra $50 million from the annual budget for Cyberport to expedite the growth of a robust Web3 ecosystem. He pointed out that Cyberport has already amassed over 180 tech companies related to Web3, comprising start-ups and established exchanges, with 20% of these enterprises originating from abroad. Despite China’s nearly five-year-long stringent anti-crypto stance, Hong Kong has introduced crypto-friendly regulations to establish itself as a global epicentre for digital assets. As part of its ongoing dedication to investing in the Web3 development megatrend, the special administrative region of Hong Kong has formed a Web3 task force to offer guidance on the industry’s sustainable and responsible evolution.
On August 3, local cryptocurrency exchange HashKey declared that it had successfully acquired all required licenses to start providing cryptocurrency assets to retail investors, becoming the first exchange in Hong Kong to broaden its operations from exclusively catering to institutional investors.
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