Tether co-founder Brock Pierce teases possible return to Hong Kong, says China will open to cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce said he is in conversations to bring a new venture to Hong Kong a decade after co-founding the world’s largest stablecoin

Pierce is striking a positive tone as several crypto exchanges have withdrawn their licence applications in the city amid a ban on serving mainland customers

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Cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce addresses the Solowin and Sequire Asia Investor Summit on May 29, 2024. Photo: Solowin and Sequire Asia Investor Summit

Published: 10:00am, 2 Jun 2024

Cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce, who co-founded the stablecoin Tether in Hong Kong a decade ago, has teased that he is looking at returning to work in the city for a third time as the government works to entice the crypto industry back.

Pierce, who is also chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, was coy about what his new venture would be doing or whether Hong Kong would be its permanent base of operations. He said the city was part of a “continued conversation”.

“Big things may come from this,” he told the South China Morning Post after the Solowin and Sequire Asia Investor Summit in Hong Kong on Wednesday. “I’m going to go where I think my time is most valuable. I’m enthusiastic about what’s happening in Hong Kong, which means I’m enthusiastic about working here, which means the likelihood of something happening is good right now.”

Pierce’s comments come shortly after multiple large cryptocurrency exchanges, most with ties to mainland China, ended their bids to become licensed virtual asset trading platforms in the city under regulations introduced last year by the Securities and Futures Commission. The regulator said this week that exchanges licensed in Hong Kong should not serve mainland residents, effectively quashing what was seen as a major incentive for setting up shop locally.

The potential for Hong Kong to act as a gateway to the sizeable mainland China market, where commercial crypto activity is strictly banned, has been enticing to many in the industry. The idea has remained popular among crypto enthusiasts – and was a hot topic at this year’s Bitcoin Asia conference – even as mainland regulators have given no indication that they might pull such an about-face.