Hong Kong’s tech news
First quarter 2023
Hong Kong’s technology news headlines spanned a range of issues, platforms and subjects in January, February and March of 2023, including: Animoca Brands’ in-roads to Saudi Arabia’s NFT space; new rules to regulate trading in Hong Kong of ‘virtual assets’; the city’s ongoing attempts to position itself as a cryptocurrency hub; blockchain-based SIM cards for mobile phone services, and more.
Hit the headlines below to read each Hong Kong tech news item in full, online.
January 2023 | February 2023 | March 2023
We also deliver a weekly email newsletter, capturing the week’s tech news headlines from across Asia Pac and the Indo-Pacific.
ASPI: A proposal for an Indo-Pacific hybrid threat centre
tech news: March 2023
- Hong Kong: HashKey gains Securities & Futures Commission approval for off-platform virtual asset trading
- Hong Kong Science & Tech Parks partners Roche pharma giant for life science innovation, looking at areas including policy, startup co-incubation, and health data sharing
“2336 cryptocurrency-related scams were reported…last year – a 67% rise from 1397 cases logged in 2021. The cases involved about HK$1.7 billion in funds, a 106% increase from the year before…”
- Animoca Brands backs Saudi Arabia’s Nuqtah NFT marketplace
- “Hong Kong’s campaign to become a regional crypto hub has attracted a steady stream of business executives from China looking to explore opportunities in the sector despite Beijing’s crackdown….”
- Philippines: Hong Kong’s HGC Global Communications partners Amsterdam Internet Exchange for new internet exchange in Manila, creating new internet access infrastructure options
CSET: An examination of China’s cyber ranges
tech news: February 2023
- Hong Kong: Gov’t issues its first tokenized green bond of HK$800M, part of bid to rebrand as a virtual assets hub
- ‘How Hong Kong Is Gearing Up to Regulate Stablecoins’ via CoinDesk
- Hong Kong: Singapore’s DBS bank group to apply for HK crypto trading services licence, responding to the city’s moves towards becoming a digital assets hub
- Hong Kong: Securities & Futures Commission proposes rules for virtual asset trading, seeking comment on whether to allow licensed platforms to serve retail investors and under what protections
Hong Kong: “When Safari users…tried to load…code-sharing website GitLab, they received a strange warning instead: Apple’s browser was blocking the site… The warning screen itself came courtesy of Tencent…”
- Hong Kong earmarks over $471M in additional funding to boost revitalization bid as a tech hub
- Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund launches JUMPSTARTER 2023 Global Pitch Competition, open for applications until May 14th
- China: State-owned China Telecom partners Conflux Network for blockchain-based SIM cards, aiming for BSIM pilot program in Hong Kong later this year
ORF: The Future of Cyber Warfare in the Indo-Pacific
tech news: January 2023
- A video look at how Hong Kong’s Archireef ‘eco-engineering’ startup uses 3D-printed tiles to help restore coral reefs
- Hong Kong’s Animoca Brands looks to raise $1BN in Q1 2023 for new Web3 and metaverse investment fund, scaling back on last year’s target
- Hong Kong: Gov’t reportedly to issue tokenized green bonds for institutional investors, marking further moves into virtual assets and a Web3-focused revival of ‘financial hub’ status
- Hong Kong Web3.0 Hub accelerator sets sights on attracting and developing 1000 Web3 businesses over 3 years
“…the Hong Kong government announced a range of policy measures for the virtual asset industry aimed at promoting the city as a hub, shifting a conservative stance it has held for the past few years as the cryptocurrency market experienced rapid growth and extreme volatility.”
- Hong Kong Science & Tech Parks partners Plug and Play for edition 7 of Elevator Pitch Competition, open to startups globally in fintech and proptech
- Hong Kong: Jumppoint secures $6.5M Series A to grow reach of one-stop e-commerce logistics platform, providing cold-chain delivery, warehousing, fulfillment and cross-border services
- Samsung launches Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF in Hong Kong, with hopes for further products as regulations develop
“CSOP Asset Management last month started a pair of Hong Kong ETFs investing in Bitcoin and Ether futures, which now have combined assets of about US$82 million. Sin said total assets under management in Hong Kong ETFs stand at about US$48 billion and will surpass US$50 billion by year-end.”
- Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission to propose a subset of tokens it would allow for trading by retail investors, continuing moves towards regulatory regime more friendly to crypto startups
- Plug and Play China partners Hong Kong Science & Tech Parks Corp’n to call for entries for the Elevator Pitching Competition 2023, seeking startups in fintech and proptech
- Animoca Brands-backed Forkast News to merge with CryptoSlam blockchain data analytics firm, creating Forkast Labs Web3 data intelligence platform
Australian Strategic Policy Institute: Critical Technology Tracker
Asia’s tech news headlines
- Asia’s tech news, daily:
On Twitter / On Facebook / On LinkedIn / Mobile app - Asia’s tech news, weekly newsletters:
Substack e-newsletter / LinkedIn e-newsletter
The Decoding China dictionary: Terms, meanings, framing
