The Hong Kong government has allocated HK$50 million (about US$6.4 million) to accelerate the development of the local Web3 ecosystem. The money will undoubtedly be used for major international conferences, cross-border business cooperation and youth education initiatives.
Web3 is the idea of a new iteration of the World Wide Web based on blockchain. Until now, the most popular Web3 tools have been cryptocurrencies and non-exchangeable tokens (NFTs), which have recently been adopted by the Hong Kong government to implement stricter cryptographic rules to become a centre for virtual assets.
Paul Chan, Hong Kong's financial secretary, also announced the formation of a new virtual asset creation group. He noted that it included representatives from the political bureau, regulatory authorities and industry, and they had already started to study the sector in detail. The experts will study the possibilities for further development and will soon prepare a comprehensive report.
In recent times, numerous crypto market experts have noted that Hong Kong is aiming to become an exceptional digital asset centre in Asia. Just a few days ago, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission circulated proposed rules for trading platforms offering cryptocurrency trading, exchange and issuance services.
In October 2022, John Lee, executive director of Hong Kong's digital economic development project, announced the government's creation of a new investment agency, Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited. The Hong Kong government has allocated $3.8 billion (HK$30 billion) to create an investment fund aimed at attracting foreign companies to Hong Kong. In addition, more information was presented at Hong Kong FinTech Week last November on the progress of the virtual asset centre in the region.
