Hong Kong hopes to pull back fledgling businesses with Web3 Fintech Week
Hong Kong: Web3 and the metaverse will feature prominently at this year’s Fintech Week, according to event organizers trying to lure firms back to the country after the pandemic.
Organizers, which include Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau and investment department InvestHK, expect approximately 20,000 to attend this year’s event, both physically and virtually, between October 31 and November 4.
While these numbers are comparable to last year, organizers hope the 2,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) they intend to issue to attendees, which will be redeemable for benefits including discounted tickets to next year’s event, will entice more people to attend the conference.
Hong Kong Fintech is bringing businesses back after the pandemic
With the focus of this year’s Fintech Week on Web3 and the metaverse, the city council is taking the opportunity to introduce its new policy against cryptocurrencies.
The authorities said they would use the event to broadcast their “vision to develop Hong Kong into an international virtual asset center.” For example, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission said it would make an announcement clarifying the government’s stance on digital assets to global markets.
The potential policy changes are also intended to draw fintech start-ups back to the special administrative region of China, many of which had previously left due to the city’s strict COVID-19 protocol.
Investors based in Hong Kong had also expressed concern that the lack of clarity around the territory’s approach to digital assets had hampered its efforts to become a leading cryptocurrency hub, in direct competition with regional rival Singapore.
Singapore holds Rival Fintech Week
Already a contender as a global financial center, Singapore is also making strides in becoming a top cryptocurrency hotspot. Its own Fintech festival will compete directly with Hong Kong’s, which takes place during the final days of the latter conference, between November 2 and 4.
It will also overlap with Hong Kong’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit organized by the central bank.
In addition to the United Arab Emirates, Singapore has granted a number of approvals for crypto companies to operate there, in an effort to draw in the industry’s top talent.
The island nation’s largest bank recently said it can offer crypto services to “accredited” investors.
Having become more closely identified with crypto, Singapore is also the last known location of fugitive Terra LUNA director Do Kwon.
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