Compliance is the key to future development, and Hong Kong and Singapore will continue to be global centers for cryptocurrency assets in the future.

Article authors: Wu Tianyi, Riley

Article source: DeThings

The TOKEN2049 Summit was held as scheduled in Singapore from September 18th to 19th. As a globally renowned event in the cryptocurrency industry, Hong Kong and Singapore, which had previously hosted the summit, have once again been pushed to both ends of the scale. The advantages and disadvantages of policy friendliness, attractiveness of technological talents, and financial infrastructure between the two places have become the focus of continuous attention in the industry. The debate over who can stand out in this competition between Hong Kong and Singapore is ongoing.

On September 19th, Weng Xiaoqi, CEO of HashKey Exchange, was interviewed by DeThings at the TOKEN2049 conference. As a cryptocurrency licensed exchange headquartered in Hong Kong, Weng Xiaoqi mentioned in an interview that the regulatory differences between Hong Kong and Singapore make them unique in the development of the Web3 industry. Hong Kong places greater emphasis on the regulation of exchanges, while Singapore focuses more on areas such as trade, payments, and funds, creating a certain competitive relationship. For practitioners, Weng Xiaoqi pointed out that "Hong Kong and Singapore have different foundations in technology talent. Hong Kong has more advantages than Singapore, especially in attracting talents from mainland China. In contrast, most of Singapore's Web3 talents are attracted from around the world.

In addition, Weng Xiaoqi also stated that "as long as the interest rate cut begins, market sentiment will gradually turn positive in the next year," he said. With the adjustment of the global financial market, especially in the context of the US dollar interest rate cut, cryptocurrency assets will usher in a new growth cycle, especially Bitcoin, which has become a key focus of major financial institutions worldwide due to its constant supply and long-term investment value.

The following is a transcript of the interview, with some deletions and modifications.

DeThings: How do Web3 practitioners in Singapore view Web3 regulation in Singapore? What direction will global regulation develop in the future? Weng Xiaoqi: Singapore was an early supporter of the cryptocurrency industry globally. As early as 2017, Singapore made it clear that token issuance is legal locally. Due to clear and protective policies, many practitioners have been attracted to Singapore to conduct business. Singapore and Japan took similar actions during the same period (not long after), thus establishing their important position in the global Web3 field.

However, it is worth noting that Japan and Singapore have different regulatory stances and policies. Japan adopts a strict and clear regulatory framework, while Singapore is relatively relaxed. Singapore's relaxed regulatory attitude is closely related to its role as a global trade ** and its long-term policy orientation of encouraging foreign investment. Therefore, Singapore appears more open in allowing the issuance of legal tokens. At that time, many project parties planning to issue tokens would choose to register a company or offshore company in Singapore and issue tokens in accordance with Singaporean laws.

The reason for establishing token foundations and governance structures in Singapore was initially due to this relaxed regulatory environment. Due to unclear regulatory frameworks or opposition to cryptocurrencies in other regions, many practitioners have moved to Singapore, which has rapidly emerged as a ** for Web3 globally.

However, influenced by the FTX incident, Singapore's regulatory attitude has become more conservative in the past two years. In fact, the global regulatory trend is also moving towards greater compliance. The most representative regions are Hong Kong, as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Next, Europe may also move towards compliance, and the global market will gradually move from disorder to standardization. The direction of US policies has attracted much attention, especially if Trump takes office again, it may accelerate the development of relevant laws. Therefore, regulation around the world is gradually entering an era of compliance.

For a long time, there has been no clear timeline for compliance processes within the industry. However, an important turning point is that the United States has increased its regulatory efforts on several major cryptocurrency exchanges, and has taken strict measures against early non compliant exchanges, even holding them criminally responsible. This has made both inside and outside the industry aware that regulation has entered a new stage. In fact, since the International Anti Money Laundering Organization began advocating for global regulation of cryptocurrencies in 2018, the aim has been to prevent the misuse of cryptocurrencies by money laundering, terrorist organizations, and transnational crime.

Although this initiative began as early as 2018, many countries around the world did not truly pay attention to this issue until the United States strengthened its regulation of cryptocurrencies and the global regulatory landscape began to shift. More and more countries are taking action, from France to Nigeria in Africa, and many other countries, big and **all, are beginning to regulate cryptocurrencies.

Many countries not only strengthen supervision at the legal level, but also begin to pursue relevant illegal activities from the perspective of criminal responsibility. In 2023, it is

In the year of compliance for the entire industry, the global cryptocurrency industry is gradually moving towards compliance. In the past, the industry operated in gray areas, but now compliance has become an unavoidable requirement. Many industries have gone through gray areas in the past, and the banking industry is no exception. For example, in Chinese history, the earliest ticket banks or money houses developed from a folk order without formal regulations.

Taking Shanxi Bank as an example, at that time, it was inconvenient for business people to remit money earned from all over the country back to Shanxi. Therefore, bank accounts were established in various places, forming a private financial system. Piaopiao later developed into a large-scale chain enterprise, with the most famous being Rishengchang, whose founder Lei Lutai guaranteed Piaopiao with his personal reputation, similar to the personal guarantee model of cryptocurrency exchange founders today. However, any enterprise will face cyclical challenges, including its own cycle, economic cycle, and political cycle, and ultimately the ticket market will not be sustainable. Subsequently, the country recognized the demand of the industry and began issuing licenses and implementing standardized management, which enabled the industry to develop healthily. This period of history is very similar to the development path of the cryptocurrency industry today.

Starting from 2023, global regulation will gradually tighten and compliance will become the mainstream trend in industry development. Nowadays, major exchanges around the world are starting to shrink their business or close risky business markets even in non compliant markets. For example, many large exchanges have closed their businesses in Türkiye, Nigeria, France and other places, and actively deployed in the licensed market.

DeThings: Can you explain what 'non-compliance' is? For example, is it considered non compliant for a platform to simultaneously participate in transactions within the platform and profit from them?

Weng Xiaoqi: From a compliance perspective, such as regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, platform providers can only act as trading intermediaries and are not allowed to participate in trading activities. In the FTX incident, the platform misappropriated user assets and failed to effectively separate platform assets from user assets, which constitutes non compliant behavior. After the incident, licensed exchanges such as regulatory agencies in Hong Kong (such as the Securities and Futures Commission) will conduct regular inspections to ensure the separation of platform assets and customer assets, and to ensure that regulatory mechani**s can effectively prevent platforms from accessing user funds. These key lessons have gradually been absorbed into the regulatory framework, forming stricter systems and rules.

The current global regulatory trend is that the unregulated market is gradually shrinking, while the share of the licensed market is gradually expanding. If ETFs in the United States are also considered as a form of licensed exchange, it can be foreseen that the market share of licensed exchanges worldwide may exceed 50% in the next two to three years.

In the past, regulation in various countries mainly targeted illegal securities markets, but now regulation of cryptocurrencies mostly stems from cracking down on illegal securities. The core question that the United States first raised when rectifying the industry is: "Are the assets you issue securities?" If they are securities and not registered, then they are illegal.

Looking ahead to the future, both Hong Kong and Singapore will continue to be the centers of global cryptocurrency assets and will continuously optimize and improve relevant laws and regulations. Although Singapore has suffered some setbacks in the FTX incident, it still recognizes the importance of the cryptocurrency industry to the country. The development of Web3 has brought significant economic benefits, especially in terms of consumption and trade. The surge in hotel prices and consumption in Singapore proves the importance of this industry to Singapore.

DeThings: From your observation, do you think Singapore's regulations still consider the cryptocurrency industry as an important sector? How do regulatory attitudes in Singapore and Hong Kong compare?

Weng Xiaoqi: We actually have a deep presence in both Hong Kong and Singapore, and both hold relevant licenses. Singapore's policies were initially more radical and open, while Hong Kong, although having a positive attitude, did not make a clear statement until 2022 when it began to release relevant policies. In 2022, as Singapore was affected by the FTX incident and policies were tightened, Hong Kong took more steps in regulation, giving people a more positive impression of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's advantage lies in its status as one of the global financial centers, with a mature financial regulatory system and strong competitiveness in attracting capital. But precisely because of this, its regulatory process also appears overly cautious, lacking a certain degree of flexibility compared to Singapore.

However, recently Hong Kong has also realized the importance of the cryptocurrency industry and begun to accelerate its pace of opening up. For example, Hong Kong used to only allow retail investors to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum, but recently added two new currencies and plans to open up more currency trading. In addition, Hong Kong has also launched a regulatory sandbox for Hong Kong dollar stablecoins and promoted the relevant regulation of central bank digital currencies (CDBCs). These measures indicate that Hong Kong's position in the Web3 field is becoming increasingly important.

Hong Kong quickly launched its first Ethereum ETF to compete with the United States in this field. This also signifies that Hong Kong is playing an increasingly important role in Web3 and the financial sector. Compared to Singapore, Singapore will be more cautious after experiencing a setback, but is also seeking a balance between openness and regulation. In the next five years, the global compliance trend will become increasingly evident, and a flexible regulatory environment will bring advantages to various regions. Hong Kong and Singapore both have flexibility, so the prospects are worth looking forward to.

DeThings: Do the businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore currently have different focuses? Is there a competitive relationship between the two places?

Weng Xiaoqi: The competition between Hong Kong and Singapore in business is very obvious, and many practitioners are considering whether to stay in Singapore or tran**er to Hong Kong. This trend of mutual growth and decline is particularly prominent in the short term. I think the current focus in Hong Kong is on exchange regulation, as Hong Kong already has a mature exchange business system, such as the anti exchange exchange and other globally renowned platforms. However, Singapore does not have such a large industry in securities trading, and may focus more on areas such as trade, payments, funds, and OTC trading. Therefore, the two places have different business priorities. The first phase of regulation in Hong Kong mainly targets exchanges, including existing on exchange trading and OTC trading. The regulatory system in Hong Kong is currently considering the joint assumption of some regulatory responsibilities by the Securities and Futures Commission and the Customs, which is an important difference from Singapore.

DeThings: So as a practitioner, how should I choose the right location? If Hong Kong currently focuses mainly on the regulation of exchanges, will it bring a problem that participants are limited to companies with specific backgrounds? For example, if I write an excellent DeFi program but do not have an exchange background, will I not be able to enter this market?

Weng Xiaoqi: For practitioners, Hong Kong does not prohibit non exchange Web3 applications, but encourages these innovations. However, due to stricter regulations on exchanges, if you are engaged in this field, you will be subject to more restrictions. For example, DeFi is an encouraged innovative application in Hong Kong. You need to consider more about management radius, management costs, and where your target market is. Is it more suitable for development convenience in Hong Kong or in Singapore? It also depends on the level of importance you place on technological talents.

Hong Kong and Singapore have different foundations in terms of technological talent. For example, the geographical advantages of Shenzhen and Hong Kong allow for collaborative development through a "front store, back factory" model, where the research and development entity is located in Shenzhen and the stores are located in Hong Kong. This collaborative model provides Hong Kong with a better foundation in the talent hinterland of the Greater Bay Area. In contrast, the majority of Web3 talent in Singapore is attracted from around the world and has a relatively weak foundation. Therefore, if you value research and development, Hong Kong may be a better choice.

Is Web3 compromising with traditional finance, or does traditional finance have to embrace Web3

DeThings: How to ensure overall market liquidity under current and future regulatory conditions?

Weng Xiaoqi: This is related to the issue of US dollar interest rate cuts that we are discussing today. In the past two years, the main global monetary policy trend has been the interest rate hike of the US dollar. The effect of raising interest rates is to attract global funds to the United States, so the performance of financial assets worldwide, including Crypto ETFs, is not sati**actory, and market liquidity is suppressed. The only exception is gold, but there are many other factors contributing to its rise, such as war, geopolitics, and so on.

However, as more and more sovereign countries begin to sell off US bonds and dollars, trust in the US dollar is gradually decreasing. Once interest rates are cut in the future, especially when they fall below 2%, the performance of global emerging market stock markets and other financial assets may usher in a new bull market, and the Crypto market is no exception. The long-term value of Bitcoin will become increasingly apparent because the total amount of Bitcoin is constant, with 21 million coins not increasing, and due to reasons such as private key loss, the actual circulation of Bitcoin is still decreasing.

This year, various funds in the United States are increasing their deployment of Bitcoin, which has already made large purchases in the range of $10000, $20000, $30000, and $40000. Therefore, when the US dollar starts to cut interest rates and inflation rebounds, their average purchase price is lower than other financial institutions that entered later, which will give them a competitive advantage.

DeThings: What would be the impact on Bitcoin prices if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by 25 or 50 basis points?

Weng Xiaoqi: In the short term, the market's response to interest rate cuts will be different. If the interest rate is reduced by 50 or even 75 basis points, the market's response will be more positive. If it is 25 basis points, the market may adopt a neutral attitude. But as soon as the interest rate cut begins, market sentiment will gradually turn positive over the next year, driving ETFs to increase liquidity.

DeThings: Returning to the historical question, does the strong correlation between Bitcoin and the US dollar in interest rate cuts mean that Bitcoin has lost its initial decentralized and anarchist color?

Weng Xiaoqi: It's not like that. Actually, this is a classic question. Last year, there was a heated debate within the industry regarding the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States: Should Web3 compromise with traditional finance, or must traditional finance embrace Web3? At present, it is more of the latter, that is, traditional financial institutions have to accept Web3. Traditional financial institutions exchange their US dollars for Bitcoin precisely because they expect the long-term value of Bitcoin to be higher than that of the US dollar. This is not Web3 bowing to traditional finance, but rather a victory for Web3, marking the irreversible trend of Bitcoin replacing some of the value of the US dollar.

The infrastructure is gradually improving, and the potential of Web3 will gradually be unleashed.

DeThings: Apart from interest rate cuts, what other aspects are the industry concerned about?

Weng Xiaoqi: The interest rate cut reflects the financial attributes of Web3 and demonstrates its linkage with the traditional financial industry. Therefore, financial attributes are a key focus. In addition, the industry is looking forward to seeing the implementation of Web3 application scenarios. For a long time in the past, many people thought that Web3 products were just empty tokens used for harvesting leeks, but now more and more effective scenarios are emerging.

For example, GameFi and cross-border payments have already been practically implemented, and DeFi is also integrating with the traditional financial industry. We are now waiting for who will fire the first shot of change.

DeThings: NFT was once popular, but later the market cooled down. How do you view this phenomenon?

Weng Xiaoqi: To some extent, the popularity of NFT is a mistake for the traditional collectors to enter the field of encryption. Many traditional collectors enter the currency circle to cut leeks, leading to a short-term foam in the market. However, what truly holds long-term value are applications originating from the world of Crypto. In the future, as more practical applications are implemented, Web3 will enter a new stage of development.

DeThings: So, is the discussion within the industry more focused on how to effectively integrate blockchain with other industries?

Weng Xiaoqi: Yes. What is worth looking forward to in the future is the widespread application of blockchain technology, so that ordinary users can have blockchain related applications on their phones. This will be the inflection point of the industry development, similar to the outbreak of the Internet that year. The Internet went through a foam period from 2000 to 2003. Many people went public with PPT. But with the collapse of the foam, the real value of the Internet industry gradually emerged. I think Web3 is currently in a similar early stage.

DeThings: If compared to Web2, what is the current stage of development for Web3?

Weng Xiaoqi: The current development stage of Web3 is roughly equivalent to that of the Internet around 2000, which is at the beginning. At that time, the Internet infrastructure was not perfect, and many countries were discussing whether to ban the Internet. Today, Web3 is also facing similar challenges. Although there haven't been many applications implemented yet, the infrastructure is gradually improving. In the future, with the maturity of technology and clear regulation, the potential of Web3 will gradually be released.

After several upgrades, Ethereum's on chain performance has approached tens of thousands of transactions per second, and hundreds of thousands of nodes around the world have participated, just like the early broadband popularization of the Internet. We are in the stage of gradually improving our technological facilities, and the prospect of explosive applications has emerged.