Inner Circulation, Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation, and Web3

22-11-30 14:50
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Original author: Jack, BlockBeats


As the waves of the FTX incident gradually recede, the attention of the encryption industry has returned to development and construction. The successive thunderstorms in the market in the past month have shaken the goals and confidence of many practitioners. The "absolute authority" in everyone's minds has fallen. Who else is willing to support the development of Web3? In our confusion, we seem to have forgotten the strong wind that blew in Hong Kong earlier this month.


At the beginning of November, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced the "< a href="https://www.theblockbeats.info/news/32334">Hong Kong Virtual Asset Development Policy Declaration", for a time, Hong Kong became the "future Web3 center" in people's eyes. But in the wave of enthusiastic voices, Hong Kong's slogan of "developing science and technology innovation" has been ignored. In the past ten years, the term "development of science and technology innovation" has been repeatedly mentioned by the Hong Kong government, but it has never been realized. Under the current background of international decoupling and domestic circulation, this term has been brought up again, and the development of Hong Kong as an "international science and technology innovation center" has entered the central government's 14th Five-Year Plan.


Looking forward to the future of virtual assets in Hong Kong, we need to ask clearly why Hong Kong’s science and technology innovation always fails ? How has Hong Kong changed today? Should entrepreneurs respond positively? BlockBeats interviewed Dr. Lam Kar-li, former chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport, Tang Yi, president of the Hong Kong Blockchain Association, and 0xLeon, a Web3 entrepreneur in Hong Kong.


Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation: The Lost Thirty Years


After the 1990s, the manufacturing industry in Hong Kong, China began to move northward on a large scale, entering Zhuhai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen for development, and Hong Kong gradually fell into the dilemma of industrial hollowing out Bureau. In the past ten years, the Hong Kong government has proposed "re-industrialization" many times, but it has never been able to successfully complete the transformation and upgrading. On the other side of the ocean, Boston, which has also experienced the pain of deindustrialization, is in stark contrast to Hong Kong. In the past ten years, Boston has successfully completed its transformation and has become the innovation capital of the United States. Today, more than 2,000 scientific research institutions and enterprises have settled in this city. The land area is only one-fifth of Hong Kong, and the population is less than one-tenth of Hong Kong. .


Where are the problems of Hong Kong’s science and technology innovation? The science and technology innovation industry has also become a problem that has always plagued the Hong Kong government. In this way, Hong Kong's science and technology innovation has passed through the lost thirty years. It is obviously unrealistic to explain the root cause of Hong Kong's science and technology innovation in an article. What we can do is to summarize some recurring words in this issue.


Island


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In discussions about Hong Kong's economy, "isolated island" is probably the word we hear most often. London, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, service center cities all over the world have close and barrier-free cross-regional economic activities with their respective hinterlands, but Hong Kong is to some extent an island economy. The so-called "close and barrier-free" is nothing more than the efficient flow of talents, logistics, capital, and information technology. However, due to the influence of different systems and laws, Hong Kong and the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta have formed a layer of rigid isolation. , There are certain inconveniences in the circulation of the above-mentioned aspects.


In terms of capital, although Hong Kong is already one of the three major international financial centers, most Some inland companies cannot conveniently take the funds raised in Hong Kong back to the mainland for use. Hong Kong's GEM has been on the market for more than 20 years, and only about 20 Guangdong technology companies have been listed on the Hong Kong GEM, while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's GEM, which was only launched in 2009, has more than 100 Guangdong companies listed. In recent years, many companies have become even more Directly choose to list overseas.


There are also obstacles to the circulation of talents. In the past, it was convenient for Hong Kong citizens to travel back and forth with the Home Return Permit, but it was more troublesome to go to Hong Kong inland. The endorsement with the Hong Kong and Macau Pass was almost impossible for commercial use, and it was difficult for people who worked in Hong Kong for a long time to commute inland. stand out more against the background. Previously, Hong Kong Cyberport executives said that the epidemic has reduced the connection between Hong Kong and the mainland, making financing for many projects difficult, and the process of building Hong Kong into a technological innovation center will become slower.


Of course, some people disagree with this "island theory", after all, Singapore and Taiwan are the same It is an isolated island, why did they develop their own science and technology industry? In fact, both Singapore and Taiwan have worked hard to retain a certain proportion of industrial manufacturing in the process of economic transformation, continuing the incense of the real economy. Hong Kong's manufacturing industry has completely outflowed in the process of "de-industrialization", and its economic structure is seriously unbalanced.


In 2002, Motorola's factory in Hong Kong announced its permanent closure due to the sharp rise in land and labor costs , moved the production lines to Tianjin and Kuala Lumpur, and "Silicon Harbor Center" has also become the office building of Phoenix Satellite TV. Hong Kong once had a leading chip production chain in the past, but now it can only act as an intermediary for international electronic parts and components. It has become a bystander in the global technology industry chain and cannot participate in global collaborative innovation.


Inertia


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CrossSpace founder 0xLeon has been studying in Hong Kong since 2009 and has worked in Hong Kong's financial industry for more than 10 years. He entered Web3 last year. In his opinion, Hong Kong's financial talents are second to none in terms of quality and density. "In Hong Kong, both financial and non-financial industries, everyone is very diligent. In the stock market, the main Asian investment funds are still based on Hong Kong funds. Lord, Hong Kong is more advantageous in all types of transaction and investment businesses.”


Indeed, Hong Kong has complete and world-class financial regulations and systems, and there is no doubt about doing finance. However, engaging in scientific innovation is different from engaging in finance. It is difficult to talk about economic benefits in scientific research. It is often a "ten-year effort". It requires the government's forward-looking layout and policy tilt in top-level design to counter the short-sightedness of the market. Hong Kong has always focused on finance, and its value has flowed into real estate and other fields. In an environment where everyone wants to make quick money, no one is willing to get involved in technological innovation with high risks and long cycles.


In a conversation with Hong Kong officials, DJI founder Wang Tao said: "DJI will not go to Hong Kong. Shenzhen has the world's best industrial chain and the best engineers." Wang Tao is also a graduate of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, but the place where he achieved his career is not Hong Kong, but Shenzhen. His words express the current differences and helplessness between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. In Hong Kong today, the employment prospects of science and engineering graduates are far lower than those of finance, medical, law and other majors, and the average salary is several times lower. In addition to the salary gap, there is also a lack of jobs. Every year, the number of engineering graduates in Hong Kong accounts for more than 20%, but only 7% are engaged in related fields.


On the other hand, although the universities in Hong Kong are among the world’s top Insufficient, the R&D center is small, and it is difficult to conduct cross-university and interdisciplinary research. As Chen Qingquan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out, "Hong Kong has famous universities, but no research institutes. Scientific theories have been produced, but technology has not been produced."


This point is also particularly clearly reflected in the history of the development of the encryption industry in Hong Kong. In the early days of Crypto, there were not many usage scenarios, more investment and trading, which required professional financial talents, so we saw SBF, Arthur Heys and other crypto superstars, all of which came from the Hong Kong financial market, OKEX, Huobi and Binance They have also set up their headquarters in Hong Kong successively. However, after the emergence of innovative fields such as DeFi and NFT, the encryption industry and the Hong Kong talent market are no longer compatible, and its center has gradually shifted outside Hong Kong.


Interestingly, as a talent with financial background, 0xLeon is seeing All In Web3 was decided after exploring many new scenarios in the encryption field. 0xLeon told BlockBeats that he was mainly looking at growth stocks at the time. From new energy, education, medical care to new consumption, he found that the penetration rate of various industries is getting higher and higher, and the opportunities are getting less and less. However, Web3 is at the same time as DeFi and NFT. outbreak period. The new wave of innovation has successfully attracted the attention of 0xLeon, "I know that the most explosive stage of growth stocks is when the industry is very certain but the penetration rate is extremely low, so I resolutely I decided to change the track and enter this new industry.”


"Active non-intervention"


After resigning from All In Web3, 0xLeon found a high school classmate who was doing program development, and co-founded CrossSpace. When considering the place of company registration, 0xLeon did not choose Hong Kong, which he is familiar with, but went to Singapore like many Web3 projects. When I registered my company there, I received government-backed capital investment. Conversely, there was a certain degree of uncertainty in Hong Kong at that time.”


The "uncertainty" mentioned by 0xLeon actually comes from the Hong Kong government "Active non-intervention" governance philosophy. This kind of "uncertainty" does not even mean risk, but that crypto entrepreneurs have no idea what kind of blockchain project can be done in Hong Kong. In other words, it is completely unclear what the government's attitude towards the encryption industry is.


Over the years, Hong Kong has not been without opportunities in developing technology. In the 1980s, the electronics industry in Hong Kong, China was booming, and a large number of international high-tech companies wanted to set up Asia-Pacific R&D centers and factories in Hong Kong. After Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the mainland also put forward a proposal to jointly establish factories with foreign-funded enterprises in Hong Kong. However, the Hong Kong government cherishes the praise of its "economic freedom" from the world, and has long pursued the policy of "positive non-intervention" and does not interfere with the economy. regulation at the micro level. After the inland reform and opening up, capital began to make a natural choice, and Hong Kong did not introduce policies to retain it, passing the opportunity to develop technology to the Pearl River Delta region.


The same is true for the encryption industry. 0xLeon told BlockBeats that many practitioners believe that Hong Kong’s policy environment is not friendly, and the Hong Kong government has certain responsibilities. “Actually, Hong Kong’s original regulation was mainly aimed at exchanges, and did not regulate other application scenarios such as Metaverse and GameFi. But everyone sees the transaction Everyone has left, and the Hong Kong government has no platform to say that it will support the development of Web3, so I always feel that Hong Kong is not very "Crypto Friendly".


In Singapore, the situation is quite different. The government's sandbox supervision is very clear, listing more than a dozen situations to illustrate the scope of supervision. In addition, the VC under the Singapore Sovereign Fund will also support the team in terms of visas and office space, which also reflects the local support for the industry. "You know that the government is very supportive of the encryption industry, and you also know what projects can be done and where to apply for a license. This sense of clarity also gives us a sense of security."


In the past few decades, Hong Kong government and citizens have had too much attention to the development of technology Hesitation, too many opportunities to develop technology like SMIC and DJI have been in front of us, but they have not cherished them. It can be imagined that if the Hong Kong government at that time was as active as the Singapore government, involved in major investments and provided corresponding policies, Hong Kong's science and technology innovation today might be a different scene.


Different Technology Week


Until last year, the executives of technology companies who left Shenzhen were still lamenting that if the Hong Kong government wants to promote the development of technology, it must make major reforms and lay out the innovation and technology ecology for a long time and incentive policies. "Investment is based on policy. If the policy is not encouraging, companies will not come to land." In an interview, Liu Zhentao, CEO of Hengguang Semiconductor Technology, said: "Because the innovation and technology industry is different from other industries, the return cycle is relatively If there is no strong support, those companies will die in minutes."


The development of the science and technology industry has thus entered a dead end. Even with the ecological and policy layout of the Science Park and Cyberport, the Hong Kong government's attitude and image of supporting the science and technology industry have rarely touched entrepreneurs in the technology field. But at this fintech week, the situation seems to have undergone some subtle changes.


"The Hong Kong government is rolled up"


In the past in Hong Kong, "lose the market if you get a license" is the default consensus in the encryption circle. In many people's opinion, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission is too strict The No. 7 license of the virtual asset trading platform is the main reason for "driving away" most crypto institutions. In 2018 and 2019, when the SAR government’s “New Licensing Policy” was announced, the voice was loud, but not many companies actually applied, because every currency on the platform must be approved by the Hong Kong Securities Commission, and it can only be used by institutions and professionals. Investors provided services, and in the end only four or five currencies such as BTC and ETH were approved.

Once you get the license, you must operate in compliance, and each customer must provide a proof of 8 million liquid assets. 95% of the retail market has been taken away from institutions. It took two years for HashKey to obtain the second No. 7 license in Hong Kong, and it cost about 20 million U.S. dollars. As Xiao Feng said, "With such a high cost, I got a license and tied myself up instead." .


But on October 31 this year, the first day of FinTech Week, the SAR government announced With the adoption of a new policy on virtual assets, Hong Kong, China, set out again in science and technology innovation, striving to become the development center of global virtual assets and Web3.0. Although the "3 content" of the conference is far lower than that of Token 2049 hosted in Singapore, it can be felt that the participants from all sides are paying close attention to the Web3.0 industry. Evaluation of Technology Week.


In 0xLeon's view, the greatest significance of the "Declaration" is that it represents the Hong Kong government's "Intervention in the economy" is a change in attitude, "This shows that the supervision has begun to be marginally relaxed, especially the exchange licenses open to retail investors. In addition, the Hong Kong government will also actively try to issue some crypto-native projects." During the Science and Technology Week, 0xLeon conducted in-depth exchanges with many SAR government staff. He found that the Hong Kong government has actually given great encouragement and support to science and technology innovation. "You can gradually see that Hong Kong officials attach importance to this aspect, and Hong Kong Government's sincerity".


Hong Kong has undergone significant changes in recent years. Determined, hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars have been invested in the field of science and technology innovation, and improvements have been made in all aspects from infrastructure to policies. The purpose is to transform the Hong Kong Strategy Exhibition into an international science and technology innovation center. Dr. Lam Kar-li, former chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport, said in an interview: "In recent years, Hong Kong has been unswervingly revitalizing science and technology innovation. The government has also listened to the constructive opinions of the industry with sincerity. The number of start-ups in Hong Kong has grown from one to two thousand. Now there are 4,000 to 5,000 companies, and I appreciate the policy determination and determination of the SAR government.”


Dr. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has established a strategic investment platform similar to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Shenzhen New Venture Capital. Even if it is given a shot in the arm, other institutional investors will also respond.” Now, from seed funds, incubation plans, accelerators to overseas expansion, the technology innovation companies that have settled in Cyberport can apply for corresponding funding at each stage, which can add up to about 1 million Hong Kong dollars. In addition, there are corresponding talent subsidy programs , to help companies recruit researchers.


During the conference, the SAR government announced that it will set up an additional $4 billion technology fund, 0xLeon believes With the change of attitude of the Hong Kong government, the new financial support is likely to be tilted towards the Web3.0 field. Before the end of Technology Week, he has already witnessed some cases of government funding, and also felt the supporting support from the Hong Kong government in the development of science and technology innovation and Web3. A series of mine explosion incidents, the attitude is becoming stricter. Although in the end we can’t be sure who will have looser supervision, but at least you can feel this marginal variable.”


Who is the backer?


It is worth noting that amidst the clamor for "Hong Kong Web3", we can still Hear concerns and worries from crypto OGs. Under the control of perennial high-pressure policies, the encryption circle has formed a set of "cynical" judgment standards. When dealing with this policy declaration and technology week, many people also acquiesced in "Price In" the policy risks of Hong Kong's development of Web3.

In 2019, the General Secretary clearly supported Hong Kong's "vigorous development of innovation and technology" in the construction strategy of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area that he personally planned and deployed. In June of this year, I visited the Hong Kong Science Park again. When communicating with entrepreneurs in the park, I repeatedly emphasized that I hope that Hong Kong can actively take advantage of its internationalization and other advantages to contribute to the needs of the country.


“The system of one country, two systems in Hong Kong, China is unique. We connect with the whole world, but we also have our own The reform of the regulatory framework and virtual assets has solved a major problem in this industry, that is, there is no good and appropriate supervision.” Dr. Lin said, “As long as the one country, two systems are used well, Hong Kong and the mainland are completely win-win. Don't worry, just let go and do a big job here."


In the context of a century of changes, for active or passive reasons, we particularly emphasize " "Independent innovation", break away from the relationship of global collaborative innovation, build your own value chain, so as to avoid being stuck in technology. At this time, Hong Kong's role as an "international technological innovation center" in the joint construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has become increasingly important.


Shortly after the opening of Hong Kong Science and Technology Week, Chinanews was convenient for November 2 telegram: The general secretary has repeatedly expressed his concern for Hong Kong’s science and technology innovation The care and concern for development has pointed out the direction for Hong Kong to strive to build a global technological innovation highland. Strengthening scientific and technological cooperation in the Mainland, supporting Hong Kong in becoming an international innovation and technology center, leveraging the respective technological advantages of the Mainland and Hong Kong, and contributing to the economic development of Hong Kong and the Mainland and the improvement of people's livelihood is the proper meaning of the implementation of "One Country, Two Systems" in Hong Kong."


Under the general environment of gradually turning to "inner circulation", the recent connection between Hong Kong and the mainland It's getting closer and closer, and it's hard not to believe that behind Hong Kong's development of Web3, there is no support from the mainland. Not long ago, the relevant person in charge of the Hong Kong Bureau of Innovation, Technology and Industry pointed out that "the development of innovation and technology is a historical opportunity and a strategic choice for Hong Kong. As Hong Kong actively integrates into the overall development of the country, Hong Kong's scientific research talents will have more opportunities to participate in national-level projects." Technological Mission".


A series of policies, including the General Secretary and the central government, have been implemented and introduced one after another with the support of the general secretary and the central government. In order to deepen the cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, the Qianhai Administration Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality has also carried out the work of providing housing for talents in Hong Kong. In a sense, the positioning of Hong Kong as an innovation and technology center in the national "14th Five-Year Plan" is an important step for my country to respond to changes in the world pattern, and it is also Hong Kong's last chance to develop innovation and technology. Showing a friendly attitude towards Web3 and the virtual economy at this moment can all be regarded as the Hong Kong government's grasp of these two key points.


Development of Web3, the new role of Hong Kong science and technology innovation


The formation of the policy concept of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area originated from Hong Kong, but in the process of role evolution, Hong Kong has become Quite embarrassing. In the past ten years, Shenzhen's economic aggregate and technology industry advantages have surpassed Hong Kong, followed by Guangzhou and Zhuhai. Some people even believe that Shenzhen can replace Hong Kong and serve as the core engine of the Greater Bay Area. In the construction task of the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong seems to have always been a servant. With the development of Web3, has Hong Kong found a suitable role for itself in the development of science and innovation? Will the problems that once hindered Hong Kong's scientific and technological innovation hinder the development of the encryption industry in Hong Kong again?


Regulation? Homework has been done


Tang Yi, President of Hong Kong Blockchain Association (HKBA.club) (TonyTong.co) told BlockBeats in an interview that one of the advantages of Hong Kong’s development of virtual assets is that it is in line with international standards and has its own regulatory system. In terms of law, build your own framework, and in the future, the mainland can also learn from Hong Kong’s laws in this regard.”


The current regulation of virtual assets in Hong Kong is mainly composed of two sectors: the spot market and the derivatives market. In terms of spot goods, Hong Kong already has laws to follow. Hong Kong adopts the Howie Test of the US Securities Regulatory Commission to identify whether the Token issued by a project or institution is a security pass, that is, a securities with fund-raising attributes. Under this test, 90% of IC0 Tokens have fund-raising properties, and they need to register stocks with the US Securities Regulatory Commission and undergo audits. In fact, the US Securities Regulatory Commission has also sued many projects that issued Tokens in the past, and the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission will also Adopt the interpretation of the SEC as a layer of regulatory guidance.


Tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are defined as functional Tokens (Utility Tokens), so registration and auditing are not required. Every Token circulating in the market needs to go through independent judicial cases or even legal proceedings to determine whether it is a security token or a functional token. "You can submit legal opinions to the Securities Regulatory Commission like Ripple, and the Securities Regulatory Commission Litigation to prove that their explanation is wrong," Tang Yi said.


Regarding derivatives, there is currently no futures business approved by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, which is a violation of Hong Kong gambling It is illegal, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission has previously warned platforms such as BitMEX. Although spot products are not very profitable for encrypted platforms, only one organization, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, can provide gambling products. The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission had previously considered opening up the supervision of the market, but Tang Yi told BlockBeats that the FTX explosion made the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission more cautious. "The U.S. does not have the regulation to open up the derivatives market. Only the Bitcoin ETF has been opened, and the applications of a group of powerful companies such as SQL and Gemini have not been approved. I don't think Hong Kong will set a precedent, and if the U.S. opens the derivatives market Hong Kong will follow suit and liberalize product regulation within a year or two."


Of course, the development of virtual assets is not limited to the above two areas, Web3 is a broad definition, Public chains, DeFi, NFT, GameFi, etc. are all included. Dr. Lin said that in the future, relevant legal reforms in Hong Kong will continue to advance with time and continue to improve on the basis of common law. "In the era of web3.0, we need to discuss the impact of DAO on corporate The legal significance and connotation of the public chain, etc., there are still many reforms to be done, but I am very confident.”


Obtained the license, do not lose the market


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It is undeniable that FTX’s thunderstorm gave Hong Kong’s virtual asset new policy a hot opening gift. His determination did not waver. "The Hong Kong government has done its homework and is determined to embrace virtual assets." Dr. Lin's so-called "embrace" is actually not simple. He believes that the SAR government has also considered the "two swords in one" of innovation and regulation. Innovation is encouraged, but the protection of investors has not been relaxed at all. "The spirit of the entire New Deal and the declaration is to make steady progress. Especially after the FTX thunderstorm, we can see the value of Hong Kong's regulation."


Hong Kong has always been a financial center that attaches the most importance to investor protection. Some Hong Kong investors are protected. The same is true in the encryption field. Tang Yi believes that strong regulation and high costs will be the characteristics of the future encryption industry in Hong Kong. Supervision. In the future, the cost of issuing Token will not decrease, and may increase.”


After the FTX explosion, whether it is the United States or the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, the supervision of the encryption industry will change be more stringent. After seeing the risks of centralized exchanges, insurance companies will also adjust their costs accordingly, "We must find ways to curb fraudulent exchanges and allow compliant exchanges to grow. Regulatory costs will definitely be high, including legal, auditing, and insurance, which may not necessarily require the $20 million that Mr. Xiao Feng said, but it will definitely not be lower.”


But high cost does not mean unattractive. Dr. Lin believes that good regulatory thresholds can better attract institutional and retail speculators. "Without regulatory thresholds, institutions will not invest too much money, and it is impossible to allow retail investors to participate without protection, so Hong Kong has done a balance". In fact, most encryption institutions are unwilling to take the compliance route because the licenses they apply for take away their own market. Tang Yi told BlockBeats that institutions are not unwilling to spend a lot of money, but are unwilling to bleed for 5% of the market. "What institutions want is 95% of the retail market. If regulatory costs can cover it, it will be worthwhile for many institutions."


On the other hand, even though the supervision prohibits retail investors from participating, many people in Hong Kong still hold There are all kinds of cryptocurrencies, most of which are purchased through little-known OTC platforms, as well as overseas non-regulated exchanges such as FTX and Binance. Once retail investors are defrauded, how to protect their rights? Should the government cover the bottom line? These are difficult questions to answer. Therefore, opening retail investors to participate on the basis of supervision is also a way to protect retail investors. Tang Yi believes that with a license open to retail investors, tokenization will become a big business in Hong Kong in the future. There will be more and more opportunities for currency".


Subtle financial innovation


Different from other science and technology innovations, the blockchain was originally a financial technology, born for finance, and started because of finance. In the early years, the encryption exchange I am more willing to develop in Hong Kong because of the first-class financial talents in Asia and the depth of the capital market in Hong Kong. Although with the development of ecology such as Ethereum, today's encryption industry has developed the concept of Web3, but its core is still inseparable from the essence of finance. The current public chain, NFT, GameFi, etc. are all nested with decentralization or The shadow of centralized finance.


However, the entire Web3 field has been full of chaos in the past year. There are countless cases of NFT team Rug-Pull. In the final analysis, it is because most of the current ecological builders lack experience in traditional finance in risk control and mechanism design. After all, most developers are from non-financial backgrounds. From this perspective, the development of virtual assets and Web3 is a "matched profession" that Hong Kong has found for itself. Hong Kong's first-class financial talents are exactly what this industry needs in the next few years.


Secondly, for the vigorous development of the encryption industry, a compliant and efficient financing environment is also essential of. Hong Kong has always been the financial market with the highest financing scale and the most frequent financing in the world. According to Tang Yi, this is also an important advantage for Hong Kong to attract crypto entrepreneurs. As a financial center, investors and institutions of all sizes in the world can come to Hong Kong to participate in compliant virtual asset investment.”


In addition, the encryption industry has another characteristic that is different from other science and technology innovations, that is, it is relatively Low development cost and faster iteration speed. A scientific and technological innovation does not need to be sharpened for ten years, but it can also bring considerable asymmetric returns. The early technical characteristics of this industry not only attract investors from Hong Kong, but of course, it also plays a certain role in hedging the "short-term thinking" that hinders the development of science and technology in Hong Kong.


Of course, talking about science and technology innovation in Hong Kong cannot avoid the problems of living costs and land resources. In the past, many Hong Kong science and technology companies moved north, which was more or less affected by these two factors. But on the one hand, after the epidemic, housing prices in Hong Kong have been impacted, and the cost of living and working is relatively low. Tang Yi also told BlockBeats that many organizations and government departments, including the Hong Kong Blockchain Association, are also willing to set up incubation bases and Fund, try our best to create a better and cheaper office location and development environment for entrepreneurs.


On the other hand, the Web3 industry has always advocated distributed and flexible office, and the influence of geographical factors will not It is as obvious as a traditional science and technology company. "It is a global business, not fixed in a certain region like Shopping Mall," 0xLeon said. For him, Hong Kong's high-quality capital and human resources are already attractive enough. "Many mainland If the company's finance and internationalization with a programmer background are not done well, you can find a more suitable COO or CMO in Hong Kong, which is a marginal improvement."


Domestic Web3 test field, Southeast Asia GameFi production port


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After the wave of Internet layoffs, a large number of "in-factory talents" from Tencent and Ali poured into Web3 to look for opportunities, and many excellent projects emerged . But in the current Chinese Web3 circle, because there is no policy space for compliance in the inland, choosing "Great Voyage" and developing into foreign communities has become the development route of many projects. But in Tang Yi’s view, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong’s determination to develop virtual assets provide another option for inland Web3 entrepreneurs. "Now that Hong Kong has a compliant "experimental base", the Hong Kong government will also use blockchain as a special approval condition for attracting fintech talents and join the previous excellent talent plan. This is very ideal for mainland Web3 practitioners." .


Compared with other "Web3 Holy Lands", Hong Kong has unique geographical advantages. To engage in Web3.0 in Singapore and Dubai, it is difficult to get in touch with the largest and most valuable mainland market in the world. "Web3 entrepreneurs in the mainland do not have to go to Dubai or Singapore. In fact, the best place is right in front of you, right in front of you. Hong Kong," said Dr Lam.


The continuous investment of the SAR government in the field of scientific and technological innovation has created many opportunities for the development of virtual assets in Hong Kong Potential opportunities, "Hong Kong is the center of international cultural and artistic exchanges and cooperation. In this regard, NFT solutions can be used to achieve scale effects. There is also green finance that will continue to be promoted in the future. The combination of green bonds and STO is also indispensable." In Dr. Lin's view, the importance of Web3 to Hong Kong lies in its industrial empowerment to Hong Kong. Through Web3, the quality and total volume of the digital economy can be improved, revitalizing Hong Kong's real economy, and promoting technological innovation.


0xLeon told BlockBeats in an interview that his Web3 project CrossSpace plans to do a lot of offline attempts and Experiment and introduce more Web2 users. "We may cooperate with a very large offline coffee shop chain in Hong Kong in the future to combine CrossSpace's complete set of NFT card collection systems and solutions with coffee retail." In the future, with the support of policy technologies such as STO and HKD, Hong Kong can create more virtual asset application scenarios like CrossSpace for Web3 entrepreneurs, and Hong Kong is also capable of becoming the first under the CBDC to integrate virtual assets into The city of social life, such an environment, is also the best breeding dish for innovation in the encryption industry.


In addition, BlockBeats also noticed in the interview that Hong Kong has a strong interest in developing GameFi. Before Tech Week, Dr. Lin made a special trip to Australia and invited the StepN team to settle in Cyberport. In the "Hong Kong Virtual Assets Development Policy Declaration", the Hong Kong government also stated that it will strongly support the development of NFT, and Sandbox, the metaverse project incubated by Animoca Brand in Hong Kong, was also mentioned many times during the conference. Dr. Lin said that he is very optimistic about the future of Token economic models such as GameFi and Play To Earn and Move To Earn, as well as its potential to drive the real economy.


In fact, the benefits of developing GameFi in Hong Kong can even rise to a strategic level. After the new crown epidemic swept the offline industry in 20 years, GameFi games such as Axie Infinity broke out in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. After that, many organizations in the encryption field in Hong Kong have been paying attention to this. Tang Yi told BlockBeats that the huge GameFi market in Southeast Asia , It is also an excellent opportunity for Hong Kong to develop Web3. "The Hong Kong Blockchain Association and the Vietnam Blockchain Association recently held an event and learned that 100 million people in Vietnam are exploring GameFi, and many of the projects are from inland developers." .


In fact, many developers of mobile games or MMORPG online games in mainland China consider incorporating some elements of GameFi , Hong Kong can provide a reasonable legal framework for the innovation of Chinese GameFi. Tang Yi told BlockBeats that many GameFi directly use Ethereum, and most of the NFTs are game characters or equipment, which do not have the attributes of security tokens, and there is a lot of freedom in product development. "I think that if the future Chinese game products Transforming to GameFi, it is completely possible to export to Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia, and Hong Kong can be used as a "bridgehead".


So, can Hong Kong rush?


The goal of global virtual assets and Web3.0 center, Dr. Lin is full of confidence, "This is a great cause, I believe Hong Kong can do it. Dongfeng has really come, and everyone should seize the opportunity as soon as possible." The legal framework and the accumulation of financial talents, as well as the active intervention of policies and funds, have accumulated sufficient strength for the development of virtual assets in Hong Kong, and the technical characteristics of Web3’s rapid iteration and distributed work have largely made up for the obstacles to Hong Kong’s technological innovation. of various difficulties. So for Web3 entrepreneurs, can this development opportunity in Hong Kong be rushed? I think the answer is yes.


Importantly, in the field of Web3, entrepreneurs do not need to participate in the gambling game of urban competition. "I think the real impact of this technology week is that many developers have started to think about whether the team should open a branch in Hong Kong? This is equivalent to an additional choice for the team." For people like 0xLeon who have overseas Entrepreneurs with an office location can also benefit from Hong Kong’s new virtual asset policy, and they don’t need to give up their existing advantages. “In my opinion, the original 1 has changed to 1.1. There is only good, nothing bad."


< p>In the past, Singapore was indeed the best choice recognized by the encryption circle, but the continuous increase in the wave of immigrants has also increased the opportunity cost of Singapore. Today in Singapore, it costs millions of dollars to buy a car, and it is even more difficult to buy a house. With the influx of more and more Web3 projects, the threshold for the encryption industry in Singapore has become very high, and the support from the government is also relatively high. Less, the difficulty of financing and development of new projects and small teams here is no longer what it used to be. "Opportunities follow marginal changes, because the existing things have already been priced in," 0xLeon said. For entrepreneurs who are still waiting and watching, Hong Kong is definitely a better choice. After all, there are many opportunities and few competitors. In a word, the early bird catches the worm, and it is better to join the virtual asset business in Hong Kong sooner rather than later.

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