Topic

Fintechi

Stories about how technology is used to enhance financial services, covering banking and securities

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  • After cutting costs throughout 2023, Hex Trust sees the cryptocurrency market’s revival ‘directly translating into profitability’ for the firm
  • Hex Trust chief executive Alessio Quaglini said the company also plans to start discussions on a new funding round

Mainland cryptocurrency investors made US$1.15 billion in 2023 to rank fourth behind those in the US, the UK and Vietnam, according to a Chainalysis survey.

The Securities and Futures Commission has warned investors about trading on Bybit, which is under scrutiny for offering suspicious virtual-asset products in Hong Kong.

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The HKMA’s new wholesale central bank digital currency project aims to enhance interbank settlements for tokenised money. A planned sandbox will test settlement of tokenised real-world assets.

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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched the second phase of a pilot programme to explore ‘innovative’ uses for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for public use, five months after it unveiled the results of the first trial run.

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China’s Generation Z is already expressing preferences in consumption and tourism that diverge from their older predecessors, with a predilection for digital shopping and experiences over commodities.

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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched a plan to trial stablecoins, announced in December, for companies with a ‘genuine interest’ in fiat-backed crypto.

Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay are enhancing operations to make it easier for foreign travellers to pay for goods and services on the mainland, the world’s largest cashless society.

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‘We’ve always been at the cutting edge of the whole blockchain evolution, including CBDCs,’ Yue, CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s de facto central bank, tells the Post.

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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is testing an ecosystem that includes digital forms of deposits, blockchain-based financial products and central bank money for settlement purposes.

Blockchain is shaking up the financial sector and, given the popularity of bitcoin exchange-traded funds, regulators will need to step up their game when it comes to consumer protection and oversight, says the president and chief executive of fund manager Franklin Templeton.

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The SFC saw a jump in last-minute applications, but the number of applicants so far falls far short of the 70 that Singapore saw after a similar regulation.

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The increased interest in bitcoin reflects how a community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts on the mainland continues to thrive, despite a sweeping government ban.

Companies should focus on increasing their integration with multiple sectors to enhance their ability to serve the real economy, industry experts said at a summit.

Futu accelerates its international market expansion to seek new growth with its Malaysian foray on the heels of its Singapore expansion, as China tightens regulations on mainland investors’ overseas securities trading to curb capital outflow.

The government will submit a bill on licensing rules for stablecoin issuers and OTC trading services to the legislature ‘as soon as practicable’, says the city’s financial affairs chief.

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The Hong Kong Association of Banks, which represents all 160 banks in the city, also pledged to ensure personal data privacy as it steps up the mitigation of fraud risks.

Analysts expect more headwinds in the ‘underpenetrated, high opportunity market’ that is India’s tech sector, amid alarm balls from struggles of major market participants like Paytm and Byju’s.

Bitcoin jumped to US$50,000 for the first time in more than two years, staging a remarkable comeback from a series of cryptocurrency industry scandals and bankruptcies that had raised questions about the viability of digital assets.

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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued a consultation paper on adopting the reserve requirements for cryptoassets proposed by the Basel Committee in 2022.

The east African nation has emerged as a haven for Chinese bitcoin miners, who were forced out of their home country after Beijing imposed a crypto ban.

Cantopop icon Wan Kwong and Arthur Yuen Kwok-hang, the deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), have teamed up to produce a video in their campaign against financial fraud amid a surge in the number of scam cases in the city.

Ant Group and the Shanghai municipal government have struck a partnership that would see the two parties deepen their collaboration in fields such as blockchain and artificial intelligence.

China Beijing Equity Exchange said it has no connections to the overseas crypto company CBEX Group, as authorities’ maintain hostility towards such assets.