Hong Kong entrepreneurs could win a slice of the bitcoin pie
While America wavers over use of virtual currency, entrepreneurs are keen to jump on gravy train, and city could cash in on boom
An influential digital currency evangelist says Hong Kong can grab a huge slice of the controversial multibillion-dollar bitcoin industry as US hostility towards virtual money increases.
"It's not stoppable. They can delay it within their own jurisdictions [states] but that's going to be incredibly short-sighted and damaging.
"If the US government tries to restrict or clamp down, that just means there will be many more bitcoin businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore and all those Americans will miss out on all the opportunities."
Tomorrow the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will hear regulators articulate the risks and dangers of digital currencies, while fans try to convince lawmakers otherwise.
Last month US authorities seized the illicit Silk Road website, and arrested its founder. For two years, critics including US Senator Charles Schumer had been pointing to the ease with which drugs and guns could be bought on the site using bitcoin.