Written by: PANews
On July 1, 2025, Hong Kong will celebrate its 28th anniversary of returning to China. From the Pearl of the Orient to an international financial center, this city has always been at the forefront of global institutional convergence and capital flow. And today, Hong Kong is setting off again: using Web3 as the underlying technological paradigm and digital assets as the financial core, redefining the connotation of 'financial center' with a global perspective and policy advantages.
When we talk about 'Hong Kong's Web3 journey', it is never just an industrial upgrade, but an extension of a national strategy of 'leading high-quality development through technological innovation', a historic leap in the deep integration of technological revolution and financial civilization.
From the establishment of a financial free port, to the release of the virtual asset policy declaration in 2022, and then to the (Hong Kong Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0) issued in 2025—this city has always responded to the uncertainties of the industry with policy certainty.
Policy Declaration 2.0 is not merely 'strengthened regulation' but represents an institutional upgrade around the 'LEAP' strategic framework: LEAP stands for Legal (legal compliance), Expanding (asset tokenization expansion), Advancing (application scenario expansion), and People (talent development), reflecting Hong Kong's comprehensive layout and long-term planning in the field of digital assets.
Clarifying the regulation of stablecoins, a licensing system for stablecoins will officially be implemented on August 1, 2025, creating a global leading precedent;
RWA tokenization has been designated as a key industry, promoting the normalization of bond issuance and planning to include gold, green energy, and electric vehicle assets in the tokenization scope;
Tokenized ETFs and digital asset funds enjoy exemptions from stamp duty and profits tax, further enhancing tax competitiveness;
The number of digital asset trading platform licenses has increased to 11, and the channels for derivatives and leveraged financing are gradually being opened;
Promoting talent development, Cyberport Innovation Fund collaborates with universities to establish a Web3 talent ecosystem.
Behind all this is a high confidence in the compatibility and openness of Hong Kong's financial system, making Hong Kong a strategic choice as a 'stronghold' in the international financial game.
Technology habitat, capital gateway, new boundaries of trust.
The development of Web3 is not just a technological iteration but a fundamental reshaping of the paradigms of efficiency and trust. In an era where the global community is filled with anxiety and expectation for a new generation of financial infrastructure, Hong Kong has chosen a pragmatic and visionary path: neither blindly chasing trends nor stagnating.
The so-called 'technology habitat' refers not only to the landing and testing of underlying technologies like blockchain in Hong Kong, but also to the empowering of regulatory systems and financial scenarios, enabling it to truly step out of the ivory tower of 'code' and 'white papers'. Today, mechanisms such as on-chain asset issuance, on-chain clearing, and on-chain identity authentication have blossomed in multiple locations in Hong Kong, becoming real public products rather than isolated technical demonstrations.
The 'capital gateway' not only means that Hong Kong continues to play its role as a hub for offshore RMB and global capital market liquidity but also signifies its ability to bridge the previously 'disconnected' systems of traditional finance and Web3. A family office executive once remarked: 'In Hong Kong, digital assets can finally be configured like funds and bonds.'
As for the 'new boundaries of trust', this is not an abstract concept but a reality being constructed by law, technology, and institutions. The immutability of on-chain transaction records, the verifiability of audit mechanisms, and the collaborative advancement of KYC and AML frameworks have rebuilt a trust system that can be recognized by institutions for Web3. To some extent, Hong Kong has turned 'compliance' from a constraint into an accelerator.
In this innovative practice, Hong Kong has also seen the emergence of a group of leading enterprises represented by HashKey, actively participating in and leading industrial transformation. Recently, HashKey, in collaboration with traditional financial institution GF Securities, launched Hong Kong's first on-chain securities product GF Token, with a trading volume exceeding HKD 200 million on the first day. The licensed virtual asset exchange HashKey Exchange has rolled out an Omnibus comprehensive account service covering 90% of licensed brokers in Hong Kong, greatly reducing the threshold for institutional participation.
The 'Hong Kong question' in the global new order.
In the backdrop of the renewed competition between the dollar system and technology capital, China urgently needs a new financial space that connects global resources, promotes the evolution of digital asset systems, and undertakes pilot missions, and Hong Kong is firmly standing at the intersection of this global pattern reshaping.
The introduction of Web3 policies is not accidental, but an inevitable result of the choices of the times, supported by profound economic and technological logic:
Although the capital market has not yet migrated en masse to on-chain, the efficiency of on-chain asset circulation has significantly improved. For example, on-chain settlement time has been reduced from the traditional T+2 to seconds, and transaction costs have decreased by more than 80%;
The global fiat currency system continues to be under pressure, with the average number of interest rate hikes by major central banks worldwide reaching the highest level in recent years in 2024, further driving the institutional demand for stablecoins as 'technology-based currencies';
The integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain is profoundly changing the underlying structure of finance, with on-chain credit, on-chain identity, and on-chain transaction logic constructing a brand new trust framework;
The financial cognition structure of the younger generation is changing, with trust shifting from licensed institutions to on-chain consensus mechanisms, promoting the rapid growth of a new financial system.
Against this backdrop, the policy innovation space provided by Hong Kong, accumulating the cornerstone of trust as an international financial center, with Web3 policy 2.0 as the engine, is accelerating its transformation into a global digital asset hub.
Hong Kong's role is no longer just a 'regulatory testing ground', but a gathering port for global Web3 strategic resources, a two-way channel linking traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi) in Asia, and a regulatory coordinate for the compliance landing of RWA and stablecoins.
It can be said that in an era where on-chain efficiency is continuously improving and the tide of digital asset institutionalization is coming, Hong Kong should and will play a leading role in the new global financial order.
Conclusion | The era has chosen Hong Kong, and Hong Kong has chosen Web3.
The year 2025 is a key node for Hong Kong to restart with digital sovereignty and institutional innovation. Web3 is not only a technological innovation but also a strategic anchor that Hong Kong actively finds in global governance, financial competition, and technological paradigm reconstruction. We are witnessing a new decade of digital economy belonging to Hong Kong, China, and even the world.
