Consensus 2025 Revelation: Policy and Ecological Fission of Hong Kong Web3｜OKG Research 'HK Web3 Frontline'

Hong Kong Consensus Summit: Policy and Innovation Fission of Web3 Ecology

Consensus, the top global Web3 industry summit, landed in Asia for the first time, with nearly 10,000 participants flocking to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, demonstrating Hong Kong's vigorous development in the Web3 field. With its financial innovation advantages and the hub position of East and West value flow, Hong Kong has become an ideal development place for the Web3 industry. From "tokenized green bonds" to "Hong Kong dollar stablecoin regulatory sandbox", from "RWA ecology" to "decentralized AI", Hong Kong is actively promoting the deep integration of Web3 technology with the real world.

OKG Research has continued to pay attention to the development of Hong Kong Web3 since 2022. It has published more than 30 in-depth articles and has cooperated with media such as Sing Tao Group and Ta Kung Wenhui Media Group to deeply analyze industry trends. At this Consensus Conference, we launched the "HK Web3 Frontline" special topic to interpret the past, present and future of Hong Kong Web3 from a unique perspective.

1. Supervision comes first: building a framework for Web3 compliance development

The stable development of Hong Kong's Web3 ecosystem is inseparable from a complete regulatory framework. Since the policy declaration was issued at the end of 2022, Hong Kong has continued to optimize its regulatory system and promote the healthy development of the virtual asset ecosystem within the boundaries of safety and compliance. Hong Kong has formulated a comprehensive regulatory framework covering virtual asset exchanges, stablecoin issuers, custodians and over-the-counter trading activities, laying the foundation for value interoperability and long-term innovation in the financial market.

As of the end of 2024, Hong Kong Cyberport has gathered nearly 300 Web3 companies, with a cumulative financing scale of more than HK$400 million, fully demonstrating the attractiveness of Hong Kong's regulatory policies.

However, the global Web3 landscape is changing rapidly. The U.S. crypto regulatory policy has become loose, and Singapore, Dubai and other regions have also sent positive signals. Faced with increasingly fierce global competition, Hong Kong needs to maintain innovation vitality while pragmatically promoting the application of Web3 technology in the real economy. As Liang Fengyi, CEO of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, emphasized at the Consensus Conference, integrate Web3 innovation into the real economy and shape the future financial landscape. Hong Kong needs to find the best path between balancing innovation and risk prevention, which is the same as the practices in other regions such as the United States.

2. Hong Kong dollar stablecoin: seize the financial opportunity in the future

Stablecoins are the focus of the Consensus Conference and are also a key area for Hong Kong's development. Standard Chartered Hong Kong, Ampong Group and Hong Kong Telecom plan to form a joint venture to issue stablecoins pegged to the Hong Kong dollar; Circle also announced that it will cooperate with the three major Hong Kong banknote issuing banks to launch HKDCoin.

While the dollar stablecoin dominates, the development of the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin is crucial to Hong Kong. It can not only connect the traditional finance and crypto worlds, but it may also become a widely accepted payment tool, thereby enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in the Web3 field. OKG Research's "Seven Questions about Hong Kong Dollar Stable Coins" analysis points out that through mechanism innovation (such as interest-bearing stablecoins) and application innovation (such as RWA), Hong Kong Dollar Stable Coins are expected to stand out in the competition with US dollar stablecoins.

It is worth noting that the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin and the digital Hong Kong dollar are not completely competitive, and the two are expected to achieve complementary advantages in the future.

3. RWA tokenization: the huge potential of the trillion-dollar market

RWA (real world asset) tokenization is a hot topic at the Consensus Conference, and institutions such as Morgan Stanley are also optimistic about their development prospects. OKG Research pointed out as early as 2023 that RWA tokenization is an important development opportunity for Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government has actively promoted RWA tokenization and launched the "Digital Bond Funding Scheme". Xu Zhengyu, Secretary for Financial Affairs and Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, also said that he is considering promoting the tokenization of gold.

However, the success of RWA tokenization depends on the participation of traditional institutions. How long does "RWA tokenization leave Hong Kong" by OKG Research? 》 suggests that Hong Kong should prioritize the tokenization of standardized financial assets, and make full use of its advantages in international financial centers, focusing on developing RWA tokenization applications in trade and cross-border payment scenarios.

IV. ETFs and OTC: Strategies for Multi-channel Capital Flows

In 2024, Hong Kong launched virtual asset spot ETFs, providing investors with new investment channels. As of the end of 2024, the total asset management scale of Hong Kong's Bitcoin spot ETFs has exceeded HK$3 billion. Although Hong Kong's ETFs have the advantages of physical redemption and the first launch of Ethereum spot ETFs, their development still faces challenges, such as investors' expectations for the pledge function of Ethereum spot ETFs.

In addition to ETFs, Hong Kong's over-the-counter trading (OTC) market also plays an important role, with trading volumes of nearly 10 billion US dollars. OKG Research's "How to improve liquidity in the Hong Kong crypto market? 》 pointed out that the OTC market is the focus of current liquidity. The Hong Kong government is considering including OTC in regulatory scope, which will help attract more compliant funds and promote the connection between crypto markets and traditional financial markets.

In short, Hong Kong has huge potential for development in the Web3 field, but it also faces many challenges. Hong Kong needs to continue to improve its regulatory framework, actively promote innovation, and cooperate with other regions around the world in order to occupy a favorable position in the Web3 wave.

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