The post Hong Kong to increase digital asset regulation in next 18 months, with focus on stablecoins appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Hong Kong could be set to introduce enhanced digital asset regulations within the next 18 months, according to a Legislative Council member. The move would be part of the jurisdiction’s push to become a global hub for financial technology. “The digital asset industry has made significant progress in the past few years, but we are still in a very early stage,” said David Chiu, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, before outlining the city’s strategic plans to attract tech talent, build supportive infrastructure and establish robust supervision. Speaking at the third annual Foresight Conference in Hong Kong on August 11, Chiu said, “We should establish a sound exchange system and soon introduce legislation related to stablecoins.” He also emphasized that the initiative is crucial for the technology industry over the next five to 10 years. Stablecoins—a type of digital asset designed to have a relatively stable price, typically by being ‘pegged’ to the price of a fiat currency—appear to be a regulatory priority for Hong Kong, as they are with many jurisdictions. The urgency is often due to the utility and widespread nature of stablecoins, particularly Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDC, as well as a perceived heightened systemic risk to traditional finance spaces. According to Chiu, the Hong Kong government aims to enhance the supervision and enforcement of legislation related to digital asset financial products, including stablecoins, within the next year and a half. Sandbox tests have already been carried out to establish the best form this impending legislation should take. Stablecoin regulation Hong Kong has been working on stablecoin regulations for the past few years. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)—the jurisdiction’s central banking institution—first issued a related discussion paper in 2022. A year later, it published its final recommendations calling for an “agile…

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Filed under: News - @ August 14, 2024 1:22 pm