In a recent report, the co-founder of Animoca (a famous game software firm in Hong Kong) revealed that Hong Kong city could not have ventured deeply into the cryptocurrency industry without the permission of China. Meanwhile, China continues its adventure and support for Web3 development as it reportedly considers the innovation as an escape route from the US dominance in tech and foreign exchange.
According to the report, Yat Siu, the founder of Animoca, stated at the recently concluded Ethereum Community Conference that the rapid growth of crypto and web3 in Hong Kong indicates that some significant underground movements are occurring concerning the state of crypto in mainland China.
In addition, the CEO said that even though there is an active ban on crypto in mainland China, the prevalent adoption of crypto in Hong Kong wasn’t driven by the city alone but was majorly influenced by strings of background moves emerging from wider China.
Furthermore, Yat Sui revealed that in May, China launched a Web3 whitepaper where it stated that the Chinese government considers Web3 as the future era of the internet. He pointed out that the whitepaper announcement came a couple of days after Hong Kong revealed that it would start allowing retail cryptocurrency trades in the state.
China Supports Hong Kong’s Crypto Development Secretly
The CEO said even though China did not include cryptocurrency in its Web3 white paper, it is vital that the government set aside a portion of the national budget to develop the web3 sector in the country. He added that Hong Kong’s progression with crypto development is open to all to see, and it was even recently discussed on China Central Television, showing that the government is aware.
Yat Siu said the new development is particularly interesting because it is not just happening in Hong Kong city as it seemed. He believed the underlying message is that the Chinese government approves Hong Kong’s venture into and development of the cryptocurrency industry. Siu added that the city cannot act without the approval of wider China.
At the conference, the CEO emphasized that Web3 is a potent means to alter the hierarchy of global technological innovations and can’ offset the global dominance of the United States Kingdom in the sector. He also pointed out the high risks nations face due to high dependency on global tech giants like Apple, Facebook, and Google, which are emerging from the US.
Furthermore, for that reason, many Asian countries like China, Korea, and Japan are committed to pushing the agenda of developing the Web3 industry in their country as they consider it a viable tool that can buy them their escape ticket out of the US technologies dominance. Also, Siu added that breaking away from US hegemony is a priority for countries such as China which earnestly targets de-dollarization.
Hong Kong Continues Its Crypto Voyage Despite China’s Ban
Currently, the United States dollar remains the chief means of foreign exchange in the world, and other countries heavily depend on it. However, according to Yat Siu, many regions in Asia seek to break free from dependency on the United States dollar for international trade, hence another agenda to push the development of web3 in the area.
It is worth noting that the Bank of China, in 2021, placed an official ban on almost all services and products that are related to cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, despite the ban enforced by the country’s government, China mainland remains one of the biggest crypto mining centers in the world.
Regardless, Hong Kong continues its exploration of the potential crypto technology has to offer. Its administration recently called foreign crypto startups to establish businesses in the state and urged local banks to support crypto entities. With the development, many crypto spectators are now hoping that mainland China will reconsider its years-long embargo on crypto activities.
Nonetheless, some state executives, such as Changgang Zhou, the CEO of CPIC Investment Management, recently commented that the Chinese administration is still on its stance against crypto activities and would continue to maintain its stand for the following years.
