September 22, 2023
By Sharan Kaur Phillora
Amidst increasing global interest in digital currencies, Chiu Duncan, a key figure in the Hong Kong Legislative Council’s Technology Innovation sector, has presented a compelling vision for Hong Kong’s digital future. In a recent interview at the Shanghai Wanxiang Blockchain Week, Duncan highlighted the potential of blockchain technology and the importance of swiftly accelerating crypto-related regulations in the region.
Here’s what we know:
At the core, Duncan’s proposal is the innovative concept of tokenizing Hong Kong’s land. This move seeks to modernize the current system, where many privately owned villages in Hong Kong collectively manage land and make decisions.
Duncan’s vision is to integrate these traditional decision-making processes into a blockchain-based system, ensuring increased transparency and efficiency.
By tokenizing land assets, they could be traded on various platforms, including virtual asset exchanges, traditional brokerage platforms, and online stock trading platforms. However, this new frontier of asset management would require regulatory oversight and licensing procedures.
Following the infamous JPEX rug pull incident, Duncan emphasized the urgency to expedite the issuance of exchange licenses, ensuring that only genuine and compliant crypto exchanges can operate in Hong Kong. By doing so, he believes the region can effectively counteract dubious crypto operations and reinforce its commitment to a stable and reliable crypto ecosystem.
In a broader perspective, Duncan expressed the importance of harmonizing cryptocurrency regulations with regional counterparts, notably Singapore. The vision extends beyond mere cryptocurrencies and delves deep into the potential of Web3 development.
A key component of this vision is the potential introduction of a Hong Kong Dollar stablecoin, which Duncan sees as an essential instrument to diversify financial risks, especially with most stablecoins pegged to the often volatile US dollar.
While Chiu Duncan presents an ambitious roadmap for Hong Kong’s digital assets landscape, he remains keenly aware of the challenges ahead. As the crypto world watches, Duncan’s push for transparent regulation and digital innovation could set a precedent for the fusion of traditional finance and decentralized systems. Hong Kong’s potential embrace of tokenized land assets and stablecoins might not just be a local phenomenon but a signal to global financial hubs about the future of finance
About the author
Sharan Kaur Phillora’s thirst for knowledge has led her to study many different subjects, including NFTs and Blockchain technology – two emerging technologies that will change how we interact with each other in the future. When she isn’t exploring a new idea or concept, she enjoys reading literary masterpieces.
