Hong Kong Fintech Ecosystem Report

18 GROWTH AND STABILITY THROUGH GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Government support serves as a crucial enabler of growth and stability within a healthy fintech ecosystem. The Hong Kong government recognizes its pivotal role and adopts a proactive approach to enhance the overall environment conducive to the flourishing of the fintech sector. Through various agencies, it provides fintech-specific grants and funding opportunities to stimulate innovation, actively engages industry practitioners to understand their needs, and responds with appropriate plans and measures. A Supportive Regime and Ecosystem for Fintech and Web3 Development June 2021 October 2022 December 2022 February 2023 The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the “FinTech 2025” strategy to encourage the financial sector to adopt technology by 2025. The focus areas include: The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) issued a policy statement on the development of virtual assets i n Hong Kong, recognizing the growing importance of virtual assets and the potential of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and Web 3.0 to become the future of finance and commerce. Under the “same activity, same risks, same regulation” principle, a new licensing regime for virtual assets trading platforms (VATPs) took effect on June 1, 2023. As at February 2025, Hong Kong has 10 SFC-licensed VATPs, with 8 more applications being processed. The first Bitcoin futures ETF and Ether futures ETF was listed in Hong Kong , marking an important milestone for the virtual asset ecosystem in Asia. Hong Kong issued world’s first government tokenized green bonds . The second digital bond issuance w as conducted in February 2024. All banks go fintech Future-proofing for CBDCs Creating next- gen data infrastructure Expanding the fintech-savvy workforce Nurturing ecosystem with funding and policies April 2024 Hong Kong launche d the first spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange traded funds (ETFs) in Asia. March 2024 The HKMA launched the stablecoin issuer sandbox to allow institutions with plans to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong to conduct testing on their operational plans. In July 2024, the HKMA announced the list of sandbox participants . June 2023 The Task Force on Promoting Web3 Development h as been established to provide recommendations on its sustainable and responsible development. Favorable Policies and Financial Assistance