Hong Kong recently issued licenses to Bitcoin and crypto exchanges HashKey and OSL under its recently unveiled regulatory regime for digital assets. As the special administrative region (SAR) of China, Hong Kong’s latest move could reportedly be indicative of the mainland’s change in stance towards cryptocurrencies.
According to a recent report by Forbes, Hong Kong’s new licenses for HashKey and OSL may benefit mainstream cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), BNB, Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA) Polygon (MATIC), Tron (TRX), Solana (SOL) and even meme tokens like Dogecoin (DOGE). Hong Kong’s decision to embrace the digital asset space was a much-needed relief for the industry, following crackdowns by regulators in major markets like the United States over the past year.
As per Forbes’ report, Hong Kong’s involvement with crypto may pave the way for China re-opening its economy to the crypto industry and allow trading and mining of the same. This would be a significant step that could trigger the next bull market in the crypto market, with top cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, etc. benefitting the most.
Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder, and CEO of USDC Issuer Circle Internet Financial, previously stated that there was enormous demand for digital assets in emerging markets, particularly in China. Speaking on the role of Hong Kong, Allaire stated:
Hong Kong is clearly looking to establish itself as a very significant center for digital assets markets and stablecoins and we are paying very close attention to that.
Experts previously pitched Hong Kong as an emerging digital asset hub that would onboard new users into the crypto space and increase its adoption. In the meantime, mainstream cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, ADA, XRP, MATIC, etc. witnessed a decline in their volatility leading to price stagnation. While that may not be a suitable scenario for crypto traders and investors, the recent report suggested that it may have led BTC to emerge as an alternative to gold.
