I just attended Token2049 in Dubai last week, and I have a lot of insights; below I will detail some feelings and differences about the three cities.
In the new regulatory landscape after the FTX incident, global crypto capital, projects, and talent are quietly migrating. In this game of emerging technologies and financial rules, three cities stand out—Hong Kong, Dubai, and Singapore. Each represents different regulatory strategies, policy thinking, and ecological advantages, competing for the discourse power of the next 'global crypto capital center.'
This is not just a geographical choice, but a comprehensive examination of a country/city's financial system, regulatory flexibility, policy determination, and technological openness. This article will delve into the current status and future potential of these three crypto strongholds from multiple dimensions, including regulatory policies, capital flows, talent environment, on-chain infrastructure, and entrepreneurial practices.
1. Regulatory stance: Steady, open, or sovereignty first?
🇭🇰 Hong Kong: Financial compliance and experimentation go hand in hand, and policy dividends are still fermenting.
Since the launch of the 'Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP)' licensing system in 2023, Hong Kong has tried to find a balance between compliance and innovation. However, the early approach of 'only opening exchanges, not DeFi or GameFi' has made many Web3 projects hesitant.
Starting from 2024, the SFC will begin to relax controls on token categories and trading varieties, allowing more tokens to be listed and the emergence of ETF concepts, but DeFi and DAO still face legal gray areas, and the slow progress of stablecoin regulation means that entrepreneurs are mostly in a wait-and-see period.
✅ Advantages: Strong traditional financial background, clear policies, backed by China.
❌ Disadvantages: Slow license approval, focus only on trading without encouraging innovation, legal risks remain high.
🇦🇪 Dubai: Open and friendly, Web3 is a national strategy.
Since the establishment of VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) in 2022, Dubai has efficiently built a legal framework for crypto, not only with clear licensing processes but also offering specific encouragement policies for emerging applications like DAO, DeFi, and Metaverse.
Moreover, Dubai's tax-free policies and operational flexibility have led many exchanges, market makers, and DAO organizations to choose to settle here.
✅ Advantages: Clear regulations, lenient tax policies, extremely fast company setup processes, free community atmosphere.
❌ Disadvantages: Weaker on-chain construction, low connectivity with traditional finance, significant cultural barriers.
🇸🇬 Singapore: Compliance first, cautious but lacking breakthroughs.
Singapore has always been regarded as a financial hub in Asia, but its attitude toward the crypto industry has become more conservative. The MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) has significantly tightened licensing conditions since 2022, restricting retail participation and strengthening KYC and AML requirements, leading many exchanges and startups to move to other jurisdictions.
Although it still retains a good legal environment and financial infrastructure, its acceptance of Web3 innovation is gradually decreasing, and projects like DeFi/NFT face many review barriers.
✅ Advantages: Mature financial system, clear laws, concentrated talent.
❌ Disadvantages: Conservative policy trend, difficulty in obtaining startup funds, extremely high compliance costs.
2. Capital and talent: Who attracts Web3 entrepreneurs the most?
Project Hong Kong Dubai Singapore Venture Capital Atmosphere traditional VC is more prevalent, Web3 capital is limited Crypto VC is active and well-funded, open but cautious talent structure rich in financial talent, less in technology many countries' Web3 talent pouring in strong tech talent but leaking recruitment environment high salaries, high living costs zero tax + loose employment thresholds for foreign talents high difficulties in work visas work culture conservative and slow fast-paced, high flexibility high pressure stable, leaning towards large institutions.
Currently, Dubai shows an attractive trend in both talent and capital, while Hong Kong is expected to gradually transform by leveraging traditional financial resources, and Singapore may gradually lose its first-mover advantage if it does not shift its regulatory stance.
3. Infrastructure and on-chain practices: Who truly achieves 'usability'?
On-chain practical aspects:
Dubai supports a large number of DAO organizations to set up operations on-site, with good policy support for on-chain governance, token issuance, and DeFi applications.
Although Hong Kong's policies are gradually opening, many teams still choose the model of 'licenses in Hong Kong, people overseas' due to financial licensing constraints.
Singapore was originally a hotbed for on-chain innovation, but the number of new project incubations has significantly decreased.
In addition, core teams and activities from chains like Solana, Polygon, and Aptos are clearly shifting to Dubai and Hong Kong, indicating an ecological migration.
4. CiaoTool and the entrepreneur's choice: Where is the most suitable starting point?
CiaoTool, as a low-threshold on-chain development tool in the Solana ecosystem, has been used by several small and medium projects for:
Initial token issuance and liquidity design (especially suitable for new projects lacking technical teams).
Market operation batch operations (such as batch transfers, address aggregation).
Simulated testing and anti-MEV protection and other secure trading scenarios.
From the user's perspective:
In Dubai, entrepreneurs can quickly register companies, immediately deploy tools for testing and launching;
In Hong Kong, combining CiaoTool can help project teams complete on-chain deployment before obtaining licenses;
Singapore, while using tools is not an issue, but the overall capital flow and regulatory environment are not friendly for rapid trial and error.
5. Conclusion: Three cities competing, where will be the future crypto capital?
Currently, Dubai is leading comprehensively in openness, regulatory flexibility, talent policies, and operational efficiency, becoming the first choice for many crypto entrepreneurs.
Hong Kong is still transitioning, but if it can implement DeFi and stablecoin-related systems while lowering licensing costs, it has the potential to become a key node in on-chain finance.
Singapore faces a choice: either shift to focus on traditional financial integration, or reopen innovative policies, otherwise it may gradually become marginalized in the crypto space.
In this tri-polar situation, choosing the right battlefield and the right tools (like CiaoTool) is the true alpha for entrepreneurs.