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Fintech

Fintech
Stories about how technology is used to enhance financial services, covering banking and securities
last updated:
9 September, 2024
US president-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania visit the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Sunday. Photo: AP Photo
Blockchain

Trump’s meme coin draws billions in crypto trading volume

Major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance say they intend to list Trump’s token on their platform, while Melania also unveiled a coin.

Mobile payments

Alipay bears cost of system error that applied discounts to user transactions

Banking & finance

HKMA readying FPS for cross-border use by midyear

Banking & finance

Hong Kong digital banks consider branches after HKMA rule change

WeLab Bank, ZA Bank and Mox Bank believe face-to-face interactions would be a good addition, while Livi Bank does not see a need.

Image: Shutterstock
China technology

CES 2025: Chinese firms show up with robots, EVs, AI-powered innovations

The market for consumer electronics will only get bigger globally as companies race to deliver AI-driven innovations, organiser forecasts.

Banking & finance

Letters | A financial centre like Hong Kong must embrace digital evolution

Readers discuss outdated practices across the city’s financial institutions, the basics of promoting snooker, and the West’s ‘my way or the highway’ policy.

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Blockchain

Bitcoin doubles in 2024, as analysts expect more gains in 2025

‘We remain convinced US$100,000 is not the final milestone,’ analysts at brokerage Bernstein say.

Bitcoin surged 120 per cent in 2024. Some analysts expect more gains this year. Photo: dpa
Cryptocurrency

China’s new forex rules require banks to tighten scrutiny on crypto trades

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange wants banks to monitor and report risky trades, including those involving cryptocurrencies.

Start-ups

Hong Kong picks 4 firms to manage funds linked to cash-for-residency scheme

The fund size is expected to reach HK$600 million (US$77.3 million) and allocated evenly for investment.

Cryptocurrency

Trump-fuelled bitcoin rally loses steam as year draws to a close

Scaled-back expectations for interest-rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve have cooled the speculative frenzy in the cryptocurrency market.

An illustration featuring Donald Trump holding a bitcoin is displayed outside a cryptocurrency exchange store in Hong Kong after the digital asset soared above US$100,000 on December 5, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Blockchain

Bitcoin rally loses steam in final days of record-breaking year

Bitcoin and its smaller rivals are struggling for traction, after the largest cryptocurrency surged to a record high last week.

Bitcoin is retreating after hitting a record high earlier this month. Photo: Reuters
Ant Group

Ant Group expands Alipay into two business units in latest restructuring

The company will adopt a ‘rotating presidential system’ for the two new businesses, with each unit president serving a six-month term.

Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Weakest link in Hong Kong’s tech ecosystem? Scale-up funding

With venture capital and IPO growth weak globally, start-ups should aggressively seek international commercialisation, leverage marketing strategies and connect with power players overseas.

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Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin records first weekly decline since Donald Trump’s US election victory

The original cryptocurrency was down more than 7 per cent for the seven-day period through 9:27am on Monday in Singapore.

The US Federal Reserve’s third straight interest-rate cut dampened the speculative spirits unleashed in the cryptocurrency market by Donald Trump’s pledge of friendly regulations. Photo: EPA-EFE
Ant Group

Chinese fintech giant Ant denies imminent restart of IPO process

Amid rife speculation, the company says it has no current plans to go public or pursue a back-door listing.

An Ant Group building in Hangzhou, China. Photo: Shutterstock
Digital currencies

Hong Kong licenses 4 more crypto exchanges amid bitcoin price surge

The approvals bring the total number of licenced virtual asset firms to seven, as Hong Kong moves to revive its crypto industry.

Banking & finance

Hong Kong set to host global heavyweights at Asian Financial Forum

The event on January 13 and 14 will bring together 100 global policymakers, business leaders, investors and experts.

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Professional Education

Want to be a fintech whizz? Hong Kong universities offer cutting-edge programmes

The courses provide professionals and emerging students with a comprehensive understanding of new technologies and their impact on traditional finance models.

Hong Kong’s universities offer some of the best postgraduate degrees related to fintech. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
China stock market

Gulf financiers bet on 35% returns from Chinese assets on stimulus bets

‘If you want growth, you have to be in this corridor from the near to the Far East,’ Gulf Capital CEO says at China-UAE summit during Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

Ant Group

Jack Ma makes rare speech at Ant Group’s 20th anniversary

The Chinese entrepreneur addresses the fintech giant for the first time since it withdrew its mega IPO in 2020.

Digital currencies

Hong Kong’s crypto faithful favour local regulations, fear ‘unpredictable’ Trump

The chair of the Silk Road Economic Development Research Centre said the city still has a chance to lead in Web3 in the next decade.

Some still see room for Hong Kong to be a global leader in cryptocurrency, even as momentum shifts to the US in anticipation of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency. Photo: Shutterstock
Digital currencies

Bybit CEO says Chinese can trade crypto though VPN, but not with yuan

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou says the company plans to reapply for a Hong Kong licence next year even though regulators bar selling crypto to mainlanders.

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Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou said the cryptocurrency exchange would not cross China’s “red line” of allowing trading in yuan. Photo: Shutterstock
Yuan

China’s digital yuan roared out of the gate, but stumbling blocks have popped up

Corruption and a slow adoption of the e-CNY risk undermining the groundbreaking progress that China’s digital currency has made over the past decade.

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Digital currencies

Decentralised kingdom: bitcoin’s Trump bump and how China lost its crypto crown

As the world’s factory, China cornered the market on bitcoin mining, leading to a flurry of crypto business activity before a harsh crackdown in 2021.

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Blockchain

Hong Kong offers grants to boost tokenised bond issuance

The city’s de facto central bank is handing out up to HK$2.5 million in subsidies per issuance to qualified tokenised-bond issuers.

The HKMA plans to hand out subsidies to qualified companies to boost tokenised-bond issuances in the city. Photo: AFP
Greater Bay Area

Time running out for 250 Hong Kong-listed firms to get women on board: HKEX

At least 250 Hong Kong-listed companies do not have at least one woman on their boards despite the compliance deadline just a month away.

HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting said companies are making progress on appointing women to their boards. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
E-commerce

Most Hong Kong SMEs believe in the power of e-commerce, poll finds

The World Bank estimates that global business to consumer e-commerce sales will reach US$6 trillion by 2024.

Blockchain

Bitcoin’s march towards historic US$100,000 level stalls

‘Bitcoin was extremely overbought since the election,’ one analyst says.

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