Hong Kong's Web3 New Era: The Next Decade of Financial Innovation

On July 1, 2025, Hong Kong will celebrate the 28th anniversary of its return. From the Pearl of the Orient to an international financial center, this city has always been at the forefront of global institutional intersections and capital flows. Today, Hong Kong is embarking on a new journey: based on Web3 technology and with digital assets at its financial core, leveraging global vision and policy advantages to redefine the connotation of "financial center."

Hong Kong's Web3 journey is not just an industrial upgrade, but also 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 the release of the virtual asset policy declaration in 2022, and then to the launch of the "Hong Kong Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0" (Policy Declaration 2.0) in 2025, Hong Kong has consistently used policy certainty to respond to the industry's uncertainty.

The Policy Declaration 2.0 is not just about strengthening regulation, but also a comprehensive institutional upgrade around the "LEAP" strategic framework: Legal (compliance with laws), Expanding (asset tokenization expansion), Advancing (application scenario expansion), and People (talent development) are the four key dimensions that reflect Hong Kong's comprehensive layout and long-term planning in the field of digital assets.

The main measures include:

• Clarify the regulation of stablecoins, with the licensing system officially implemented on August 1, 2025.
• Focus on the tokenization of RWA, promote the normalization of bond issuance, and plan to include assets such as gold, green energy, and electric vehicles in the tokenization scope.
• Tokenized ETFs and digital asset funds enjoy tax incentives, enhancing competitiveness.
• The number of digital asset trading platform licenses has increased to 11, gradually opening up derivatives and leveraged financing channels.
• Promote talent development and build a Web3 talent ecosystem.

These measures demonstrate the compatibility and openness of Hong Kong's financial system, and reflect Hong Kong's strategic position as a "bridgehead" in international financial competition.

Technical Habitat, Capital Channel, 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 for a new generation of financial infrastructure, Hong Kong has chosen a path that balances pragmatism and vision.

The "technology 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, allowing technology to truly emerge from the ivory tower of "code" and "white papers." Currently, mechanisms such as on-chain asset issuance, clearing, and identity verification have blossomed in multiple areas in Hong Kong, becoming public products in reality.

"Capital Channel" means that Hong Kong not only continues to play a central role in the flow of offshore RMB and global capital markets but also bridges the system between traditional finance and Web3. As a head of a family office said: "In Hong Kong, digital assets can finally be allocated in a portfolio like funds and bonds."

"Trusting New Frontiers" is a reality built by law, technology, and institutions together. The immutability of on-chain transaction records, verifiable audit mechanisms, and the collaborative advancement of KYC and AML frameworks have rebuilt a trust system in Web3 that can be recognized by institutions. Hong Kong has transformed "compliance" from a constraint into an accelerator.

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

The "Hong Kong Role" in the Global New Order

Against the backdrop of the re-game between the dollar system and technological capital, China needs a new financial space that connects global resources, promotes the evolution of the digital asset system, and undertakes pilot missions. Hong Kong is standing at the intersection of this reshaping of the global landscape.

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

• The efficiency of on-chain asset circulation has significantly improved, with settlement times shortened from the traditional T+2 to seconds, and transaction costs reduced by over 80%.
• The global fiat currency system continues to be under pressure, driving the institutional demand for stablecoins as "technological currencies."
• The integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain is profoundly changing the underlying structure of finance.
• The financial cognitive structure of the younger generation has undergone a transformation, driving the rapid growth of a new financial system.

The policy innovation space provided by Hong Kong, built on the trust accumulated as an international financial center and driven by Web3 policy 2.0, is accelerating its transformation into a global digital asset hub.

Hong Kong's role is no longer just a "regulatory testing ground" but a global hub for Web3 strategic resources, a bidirectional channel in Asia linking traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi), and also a regulatory coordinate for the compliance of RWA and stablecoins.

In an era where on-chain efficiency continues to improve and the institutionalization of digital assets is on the rise, Hong Kong is bound to play a leading role in the new global financial order.

Conclusion: Hong Kong's New Journey in Web3

The year 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 found in global governance, financial competition, and the reconstruction of technological paradigms. We are witnessing a new decade of the digital economy that belongs to Hong Kong, China, and even the world.