Virtual Assets Report

FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS 9 FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS I. VIRTUAL ASSETS: AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING As indicated by the results, a large majority of the population has heard of virtual assets.6 83.9% of the respondents in Phase 1 indicated their awareness of virtual assets, and more than two thirds had heard of at least one crypto exchange (see Figure 2). The awareness of virtual assets value rose by 3.4 percentage points to 87.3% in Phase 2. This increase may be the outcome of an alleged fraudulent incident that broke out in September, just two weeks before the Phase 2 survey was launched. This high-profile incident was widely discussed in the news, garnering much public attention. In both phases, Coinbase, Binance and Crypto.com were among the most recognisable crypto exchanges in Hong Kong; in Phase 2, JPEX, the subject of the high- profile incident, was recognised by 68.5% of the respondents – at least 20 percentage points more than the other crypto exchanges mentioned in the survey (see Figure 3). Phase 1 Phase 2 JPEX N/A 68.5% Coinbase 45.3% 46.8% Binance 43.6% 45.6% Crypto.com 32.2% 34.5% FTX 25.4% 24.2% Gemini 8.8% 8.0% OKX 6.8% 7.5% Huobi 8.1% 7.5% Bitfinex 8.3% 7.1% Bitstamp 6.8% 5.9% Gate.io 4.9% 4.7% KuCoin 5.4% 4.6% Kraken 3.2% 2.8% None of the above 23.3% 9.4% Others 1.0% 1.2% 100% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% No Yes Phase 1 Phase 2 Figure 2. Have You Heard of Virtual Assets? Table 1. Crypto Exchanges That Respondents Had Heard Of 6. “Virtual assets” is defined as digital representations of value that may be in the form of digital tokens or any other virtual commodities, crypto assets or other assets of essentially the same nature, including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and excluding central bank digital currencies and other financial assets (e.g., stocks, bonds) or stored value facilities (e.g., Octopus).