Hong Kong lawmaker quiets crypto stability concerns raised by Ethereum co-founder News ▸ Hong Kong ▸ Ethereum ▸ Regulation
Hong Kong lawmaker quiets crypto stability concerns raised by Ethereum co-founder
Vitalik Buterin had raised questions about Hong Kong's relationship with China and skepticism about the region's crypto friendliness.
2 min read
Updated: Sep. 15, 2023 at 9:27 am UTC
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Hong Kong Legislative Council member Johnny Ng has invited Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin to the region so that he can gain insights into its approach to cryptocurrency projects, according to a Sept. 15 post on X, formerly Twitter.
On Sept. 14, Buterin, speaking at the Web3 Transitions Summit in Singapore, reportedly advised cryptocurrency projects to carefully assess the stability of Hong Kong’s crypto regulatory environment, noting that the complex relationship between the city-state and Mainland China could pose challenges for ventures operating in the region.
According to Buterin, he has difficulty judging if the current level of friendliness towards crypto could be sustained for a long time, considering China’s open antagonism to the emerging industry.
Ng replies to Buterin.
In response, Ng attempted to address Buterin’s concerns by emphasizing that the region cannot abruptly reverse its established policies because “every policy or legislation in Hong Kong will go through a period of discussion, including government policy writing, public consultation, discussions in multiple committees of the Legislative Council and the General Assembly.”
He added:
“Hong Kong’s policies and laws will not change overnight. All relevant strategies and regulations have gone through major social consensus and complete procedures. Therefore, I can tell Mr. Vitalik that Hong Kong’s policies are very stable.”
The lawmaker also explained the relationship between the region and China, saying they practice a “one country, two systems” policy that allows Hong Kong to “formulate policies on virtual assets and welcomes global compliance companies to develop” under their jurisdiction. According to Ng, there are no “complications” in this unique relationship.
Hong Kong is actively drawing crypto firms, including CoinEx, OKX, and others, to its jurisdiction by establishing frameworks for their compliant operations.
The region’s financial watchdog, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), encouraged banking giants to accept crypto exchanges as clients and revealed intentions to implement a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins.
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Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Vitalik Buterin stands as the pioneering force behind Ethereum, a transformative community-driven platform that fuels the cryptocurrency ether (ETH) and underpins a myriad of decentralized applications.
