The financial watchdogs of Hong Kong are set to host a meeting between domestic cryptocurrency businesses and bankers in a bid to ease financing for the industry as the region aims to become a global digital asset hub.
Although the authorities of China are predominantly against the asset class, crypto firms based in Hong Kong have reportedly received support from leading Chinese banks in the past several weeks.
Another Step Towards the Crypto Goal
According to Bloomberg’s report, the HKMA and the Securities and Futures Commission are planning to facilitate direct dialog between local cryptocurrency entities and banking institutions to share practical experiences and perspectives in opening and maintaining bank accounts. The session is scheduled for April 28 at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
The meeting comes at a time when several banking institutions in the USA, such as Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, have revealed operational difficulties and were shut down by regulators, affecting multiple crypto clients.
As CryptoPotato reported earlier this week, the Hong Kong subsidiaries of the Bank of China, the Bank of Communications, and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank have already started offering their services to domestic digital asset entities. This positive stance of Hong Kong’s authorities contrasts the ban on all cryptocurrency operations enforced by China’s central bank and government in 2021.
Is Hong Kong’s Push Towards Crypto Bullish?
The authorities of Hong Kong have laid out plans to turn the special administrative region of China into a blockchain center, legalise cryptocurrency retail trading, and design a friendly regulatory framework for the industry.
BitMEX’s co-founder, Arthur Hayes, argues that such a step could trigger the next bull market and that when China steps in, it will further stimulate the rally. Hayes thinks the current economic turbulence across the globe could force the country to distribute its US dollar stash earned from its massive export into an alternative market, and warming up to crypto might be one way to do so.
