City Hong Kong Financial News

The Asia Pacific region is seeing a major business shift with increasing numbers of new technology startups appearing, even as venture capital investment is decreasing compared to last year. A report from Big Four accountant KPMG and international banking company HSBC based on a survey of 6,472 Asian Pacific startups found that over a quarter of them are blockchain related. 

Cryptocurrency exchange CoinFLEX is partially reopening user withdrawals, raising cautious optimism that the company was gradually recovering from liquidity constraints that were triggered by a high-profile client default. 

CoinFLEX, a Hong Kong-based physical futures crypto exchange, announced last Saturday that it has taken legal action to recover $84 million from a single long-term serving client.

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced Hong Kong's CEO of Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong as its new Chair, with the scheduled projection for his term to commence in January 2023.

Crypto investment platform CoinFLEX is moving forward with its plan to reclaim $84 million in funds by starting arbitration procedures in Hong Kong against an individual account holder.

Ashley Alder, the CEO of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, will become the next chair of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority.

One of Hong Kong’s top financial officials, Ashley Alder, is leaving his role as chief executive of the city’s markets regulator to become chair of the Financial Conduct Authority.

BEIJING — China has joined the global craze over exchange-traded funds, the investment product that lets traders buy and sell a basket of stocks.

The Financial Conduct Authority has lined up the boss of the Hong Kong markets regulator as its next chair, Sky News reports.

A subsidiary of the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange called HBIT Inc has received its Money Services Business (MSB) license from the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

SINGAPORE & HONG KONG – JUNE 28, 2022 Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange Limited (HKD.com), a leading digital asset exchange in Hong Kong, today announces that the company has entered a joint strategic partnership and merger and acquisition with Technicorum Holdings (www.technicorum.com), diving further into the $163 billion annual global blockchain market. The merger company, formerly known as Gravitas International Associates Pte Ltd, a Singapore regulated Payment Services Act exempt company, will be newly renamed as HKD.com (Singapore) Pte Ltd, which will allow both groups to leverage each other's strengths and networks to get more deeply entrenched in the blockchain industry. With regulated payment services globally, a leading centralised exchange app and platform, a regulated token launchpad, expertise from ICO’s to IEO’s, IDO’s, IGO’s, DeFi and NFT’s, as well as recently GameFi, SocialFi, and the Metaverse, this strategic partnership is a great enabler for both HKD.com as well as Technicorum.

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived Thursday in the special administrative region of Hong Kong, state media said.

Samsung Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited («SAMHK») announced the launch of the first APAC metaverse theme active ETF in Hong Kong in July, titled Samsung Asia Pacific ex NZ Metaverse Theme ETF (Exchange Ticker: 3172.HK).

This week’s newsletter highlights Yahoo’s plans to get involved in nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and metaverse-based projects. Also, watch manufacturer TAG Heuer is dipping its toes into NFTs, and digital collectible platforms in China have increased in number despite warnings from the government.

Last week, the Celsius Network wrote its name in the alarming recent history of the crypto market failures alongside Terra. The American platform has unstaked $247 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) from the Aave protocol and sent it to crypto exchange FTX while putting the withdrawal option for users on a stop. 

Hong Kong-based crypto lending firm, Babel Finance, has eased some of its immediate liquidity troubles by reaching debt repayments agreements with some of its counterparties.

Hong Kong-based start-up PANGU, a metaverse agency appointed by Sandbox, is helping clients to enter into the metaverse by providing asset creation and branding consultation services. The company said it is building various business models, including the play-to-earn (P2E) model for clients to support its growth.

Hong Kong-based asset manager Babel Finance is the latest cryptocurrency lending firm experiencing some serious issues amid the ongoing market downturn.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced joint research with the Bank of Israel (BOI) and the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) Hong Kong Centre for retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

American web services provider Yahoo has announced that it is launching a series of metaverse activities in Hong Kong.

Yahoo has announced a series of Metaverse and NFT-related activities in Hong Kong, a day after Meta Platforms outlined its own metaverse plans for the region.