Foreign media The Block today (26th) with the theme of “Changes in Cryptocurrency Regulation in Asia”, explored the current situation of cryptocurrency regulation in countries including Hong Kong and Singapore, stating that both countries are in a leading position in the industry, especially the former is committed to becoming the Web3 startup center in Asia. In addition, the recently proposed “Cryptocurrency Act” in Taiwan has also attracted attention.
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Hong Kong
Singapore
Japan and South Korea
Taiwan
Is Asia the Future of Cryptocurrency Industry?
As a highly anticipated new center for the cryptocurrency industry, Hong Kong has implemented a cryptocurrency regulatory framework since June this year, which requires operators to obtain licenses in order to operate virtual asset trading platforms, and has strict restrictions and regulations on investment products and stablecoins.
(Hong Kong cryptocurrency regulation effective on 6/1: exchanges have heavy responsibility for protecting retail investors, temporarily prohibited from trading stablecoins)
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In November, Hong Kong also conducted relevant regulatory research on aspects such as the implementation of tokenized securities and tax exemptions for investors.
A few days ago, Hong Kong announced that it is ready to accept the listing of virtual asset spot ETF products. If this is achieved, Hong Kong is expected to become the first market in Asia to allow the listing of virtual asset spot ETFs, and will strengthen its position as a leading digital asset center in Asia. Donald Day, CEO of Hong Kong cryptocurrency platform VDX, commented on this:
Hong Kong’s stable and reliable regulatory system is a competitive advantage for establishing and operating compliant digital asset businesses.
Despite facing major crises such as the bankruptcy of Three Arrows Capital, Singapore has still attracted many global companies in the cryptocurrency and Web3 fields to establish headquarters in the country.
At the same time, the country has recently focused on regulation and issued the final version of the stablecoin regulatory framework in August, and has subsequently issued digital token primary payment institution licenses to US exchange Coinbase, South Korean exchange Upbit, and Taiwan exchange XREX.
(Singapore’s MAS bans leverage and margin trading for retail investors, and credit card cryptocurrency payments)
Some time ago, Southeast Asia’s super app “Grab” launched an in-app blockchain wallet with the ability to manage digital assets, which was also part of the “Project Ubin” proposed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2021.
It is understood that the project mainly studies the use of central bank digital currencies, asset tokenization (RWA), stablecoins, and other three types of digital assets.
In addition to Hong Kong and Singapore, which have attracted attention from all walks of life, Japan, which actively legislates, and South Korea, which has booming trading, are also contributors to the development of cryptocurrency in Asia.
When it comes to Japan, investor protection has always been one of the reasons why the country is committed to cryptocurrency legislation and pilot projects, including continuously amending the heavy tax system and multiple attempts at stablecoin and cross-network digital asset trading pilots.
In addition, the Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has also started cooperation with cryptocurrency companies in various countries in the past six months, from payment network Ripple, Standard Chartered Bank’s venture capital department SC Ventures, to stablecoin issuer Circle, focusing on exploring the application of digital assets.
In South Korea, the local government of the second-largest city, Busan, revealed last month that two companies will jointly launch and operate the “Busan Digital Asset Exchange”, which is expected to debut in the first half of next year.
Data also shows that South Korea’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies has far exceeded expectations.
Upbit: Pink, Coinbase: Yellow
In fact, the monthly trading volume of Upbit, the largest local exchange, is often higher than that of Coinbase. According to statistics, Coinbase’s spot trading volume from this month to date is 55.2 billion US dollars, while Upbit’s is an astonishing 71.8 billion US dollars.
It is worth mentioning that Taiwan’s “Cryptocurrency Act” passed the first reading in October this year and has also attracted attention from The Block.
However, the subsequent discussion of the bill at the “2023 Taiwan Virtual Economy Forum” was dampened by legislator Zeng Mingzong, who expressed a tendency not to pass the law, emphasizing that the content related to consumer protection, financial investment, and payment definitions is still not clear enough.
It is understood that the actual law also has many concerns and loopholes, including misunderstandings in the process of quoting international regulatory frameworks, lack of registration mechanisms, and lenient penalties.
(“Cryptocurrency Act” for the protection of businesses or consumers? Professor Yang Yueping interprets Taiwan’s regulatory path)
However, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has also announced the “Guidelines for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP)” in September this year, officially supervising domestic and foreign currency dealers; at the same time, it will include the concerns of exchange user accounts in the legal scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
In September this year, in an interview with MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen at the Token2049 event, ChainNews also mentioned his positive view on the development of the cryptocurrency industry in Asia.
Rune not only praised the recent friendly and open attitude of the Japanese government towards the cryptocurrency industry, but also felt the strong difference and contrast between Asian and Western regulations, emphasizing that developers can go to Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other places at any time without worrying about regulatory uncertainty:
People have been saying for many years that Asia will be the future of the cryptocurrency industry, and now it may finally happen.
(Token2049 | Interview with MakerDAO founder: Solana controversy is just a misunderstanding! Praise for friendly regulations in Asia)
Asia
Taiwan
Singapore
Japan
South Korea
Hong Kong
Further reading
IMF: Asia is more accepting of cryptocurrencies, high stock market correlation highlights the need for regulation
Large amounts of gold fleeing Hong Kong! Max Keiser: Only Bitcoin allows you to take it with you.