In the Hong Kong cryptocurrency scene of 2025, it resembles a split Rubik's Cube—on one side, the cold frown of crypto natives facing KYC forms, and on the other, the热 of users rushing to open accounts in financial giants' stores, with two temperatures colliding to create a magical street.
Veterans from Binance and Huobi, carrying the "decentralization belief," rush to compliant exchanges, only to be stunned on their first day by the "Anti-Money Laundering Commitment Letter." The morning meeting table is not set with white papers, but with the detailed rules of the "Virtual Asset Guidelines," where someone curses, "Real-name stablecoins? Might as well use Alipay," and is soon called in for a meeting by the compliance department.
Futu opens its store opposite HSBC, where client managers can quote the BTC volatility, yet fall silent when a user presents their Mainland ID; Ant's digital wallet is buried in a three-level menu, accessible only to permanent residents—giants bring in billions of traffic, yet it feels like handing out flyers from outside a glass wall.
When HSBC obtained its license, the email simply stated "completed innovation indicators," and shortly after accepted a $50 million BTC custody, with the process taking three months because "the seal must be on the rules."
Conflicts often arise in elevators: public chain developers confront brokerage managers, asking, "What's the difference between compliant trading and banking?" The reply is, "It's still better than you guys using a VPN to go through OA." Law firms caught in the middle see their bills triple, indifferent to who is right or wrong.
Some are celebrating: ZhongAn Bank's digital account transaction volume has increased eightfold, compliance lawyers’ hourly rates exceed 5,000 HKD, KOL advertising quotes have surged fivefold, even if a "risk warning" must be added at the end.
Others are suffocating: a certain team wrote a 500-page report to explain "smart contracts" to the Securities and Futures Commission.
In reality, there has never been a pure utopia here. Crypto enthusiasts seek gaps within the rules, while traditionalists must understand the wallets of the youth. It’s like a steel cable tied to a balloon, allowing the game to soar without bursting it—that is the truth of Hong Kong's cryptocurrency scene.
