HSBC summit: digital assets market at ‘tidal point’, Hong Kong best placed to drive it forward, bank’s global strategy head says
- The market is at its ‘tidal point,’ I can’t think of any financial centres better placed for this [than] Hong Kong,’ HSBC’s digital assets strategy chief says
- The city has established substantial regulatory frameworks for the market and scored key transactions, bank says
“The market really is at its tidal point,” said John O’Neill, the bank’s global head of digital assets strategy. “When we look back, we’ll say 2024 is the year this market really gets serious in terms of liquidity development. I can’t think of any financial centres better placed for this [than] Hong Kong.”
With legal certainty and regulation, the UK-based investment banker said Hong Kong has entered the next phase of development in the digital assets market, which is to achieve benchmark liquidity in both the primary and secondary markets.
“This is a market where people are open-minded,” O’Neill said during a panel discussion at the Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong organised by HSBC. “They are really engaged in this subject.”
The city has been at the forefront in Asia in experimenting with different forms of digital currency and facilitating the blockchain ecosystem, taking the lead in enhancing the role of fintech in the financial hub.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority last month initiated the second phase of a pilot programme to explore more retail use cases for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and a wholesale pilot to support interbank settlements using tokenised money. It also introduced a stablecoin sandbox, allowing companies to test cryptocurrency tokens pegged to the local currency.
