The Next Decade of Web3 in Hong Kong: Starting a New Journey Today

On July 1, 2025, Hong Kong will celebrate the 28th anniversary of its return to the embrace of the motherland. This city has transformed from the Pearl of the Orient to an international financial center, always at the forefront of global institutional convergence and capital flow. Today, Hong Kong is entering a new stage of development: using Web3 as the technological foundation, digital assets as the financial core, and redefining the connotation of "financial center" with a global perspective and policy advantages.

Hong Kong's Web3 journey is not just an industrial upgrade, but an extension of the national strategy of "leading high-quality development through technological innovation." It represents a historic leap in the deep integration of technological revolution and financial civilization. From establishing a financial free port, to releasing the virtual asset policy declaration in 2022, and then launching the "Hong Kong Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0" (Policy Declaration 2.0) in 2025, this city has consistently responded to the uncertainties of the industry with policy certainty.

The Policy Declaration 2.0 focuses on institutional upgrades around the "LEAP" strategic framework, including four key dimensions: 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 digital asset field. The main content includes:

1. Clarify the regulation of stablecoins, with the stablecoin licensing system officially implemented on August 1, 2025;
2. Tokenize RWA as a key industry, promote the normalization of bond issuance, and plan to include gold, green energy, and electric vehicle assets in the scope of tokenization;
3. Tokenized ETFs and digital asset funds enjoy exemptions from stamp duty and capital gains tax;
4. The number of digital asset trading platform licenses has increased to 11, gradually opening up channels for derivatives and leveraged financing;
5. Promote talent development, the Cyberport Innovation Fund collaborates with universities to build a Web3 talent ecosystem.

These policies reflect Hong Kong's high confidence in the compatibility and openness of its financial system, and are a strategic choice to position Hong Kong as a "bridgehead" in the international financial competition.

Technical Habitat, Capital Channel Port, New Boundaries of Trust

The development of Web3 is not only a technological iteration but also a fundamental reshaping of the paradigms of efficiency and trust. In the face of global expectations and anxieties regarding a new generation of financial infrastructure, Hong Kong has chosen a path that balances pragmatism and foresight.

The "technical habitat" not only refers to the landing experiments of underlying technologies such as blockchain in Hong Kong, but also represents the joint empowerment of regulatory systems and financial scenarios, enabling technology to truly emerge from the ivory tower of "code" and "white papers". Currently, mechanisms for on-chain asset issuance, clearing, identity verification, and more have blossomed in multiple locations in Hong Kong, becoming public products in reality.

"Capital Channel" means that Hong Kong not only continues to play its role as a hub for offshore RMB and global capital markets, but can also bridge the traditionally "non-communicating" systems between traditional finance and Web3. As a family office executive said: "In Hong Kong, digital assets can finally be allocated like funds and bonds."

"Trusting New Frontiers" is being jointly constructed by law, technology, and systems. 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 recognized by institutions for Web3. Hong Kong has transformed "compliance" from a constraint into an accelerator.

In this innovative practice, a number of leading enterprises actively participated and led industrial transformation. For example, a certain company collaborated with traditional financial institutions to launch Hong Kong's first on-chain securities product, with a trading volume exceeding 200 million HKD on its first day. The comprehensive account services offered by its licensed virtual asset exchange cover 90% of licensed brokers in Hong Kong, significantly lowering the participation threshold for institutions.

The "Hong Kong Question" in the Global New Order

Against the backdrop of a renewed game between the US dollar system and technological capital, China needs a new financial space that connects global resources, promotes the evolution of digital asset systems, and takes on pilot missions. Hong Kong is steadily positioned at the intersection of this global reshaping.

The introduction of Web3 policies is an inevitable result of the choices of the times, supported by profound economic and technological logic.

1. The efficiency of on-chain asset circulation has significantly improved, with settlement time reduced from the traditional T+2 to seconds, and transaction costs decreased by over 80%;
2. The global fiat currency system continues to be under pressure, with the average number of interest rate hikes by major central banks worldwide reaching a new high in recent years in 2024, driving the institutional demand for stablecoins as "technology-based currency".
3. The integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain is profoundly transforming the underlying structure of finance, with on-chain credit, identity, and transaction logic building a new trust framework;
4. The financial cognitive structure of the younger generation has shifted, with trust moving from licensed institutions to on-chain consensus mechanisms, driving the rapid growth of new financial systems.

Against this background, the policy innovation space provided by Hong Kong, built on the trust accumulated as an international financial center, is accelerating its transformation into a global digital asset hub with Web3 Policy 2.0 as the engine.

Hong Kong's role is no longer just a "regulatory sandbox"; it is a gathering port for global Web3 strategic resources, a two-way channel in Asia linking traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi), and a regulatory coordinate for the compliance of RWA and stablecoins.

In an era where on-chain efficiency is continuously improving and the institutionalization of digital assets is on the rise, Hong Kong should undoubtedly play a leading role in the new global financial order.

Conclusion: The era has chosen Hong Kong, and Hong Kong has chosen Web3

2025 is a key juncture for Hong Kong to restart with digital sovereignty and institutional innovation. Web3 is not only a technological revolution but also a strategic anchor that Hong Kong has actively found in global governance, financial competition, and the reconstruction of technological paradigms. We are witnessing a new decade of the digital economy belonging to Hong Kong, China, and even the world.