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TechPolicy

Hong Kong FinTech Week kicks off with new Web3 focus: tokenisation and cross-border payments

  • Hong Kong officials touted new use cases for blockchain technology as the SFC unveiled new rules for retail access to tokenised securities
  • Shift away from virtual assets, with emphasis placed on e-CNY and cross-border payments, comes in wake of JPEX scandal

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Chief Executive John Lee, attending Hong Kong FinTech Week 2023. Photo: Handout
Matt HaldaneandXinmei Shen
Hong Kong officials unified around the city’s commitment to Web3 development at this year’s FinTech Week, touting the expansion of blockchain, tokenisation and central bank digital currencies more than six weeks after the JPEX scandal shook investor confidence in cryptocurrencies and related assets.
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“We’ve been asked many times whether JPEX will affect our determination to grow the Web3 market,” Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) Christopher Hui said during one of the conference’s opening keynote speeches. “The answer is a clear no.”

In addition to Hui, the two-day main conference opened on Thursday with talks from Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, the People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor Zhong Qingsong and Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Chief Executive Eddie Yue.

With a broad theme of “fintech redefined”, it became clear from the early speakers and myriad crypto companies peppering the show floor that Web3 was once again the highlight of FinTech Week a year after the city announced its intent to become a virtual asset hub.

In the aftermath of one of the largest financial frauds in Hong Kong history – with thousands of complaints about the JPEX crypto exchange being linked to HK$1.5 billion (US$192 million) in lost funds – major themes running through FinTech Week focused on tokenisation and cross-border transactions. This marked a shift from last year’s focus on virtual assets, when it appeared that the city was looking to court overseas crypto businesses.

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