Chiu Tat-Ken: Hong Kong's Web3 regulation is taking a steady and gradual approach, with the next stage focusing on three major areas: participants, products, and legislation.

Foresight News reported live that Hong Kong Legislative Council member (Technology Innovation Sector) Yau Tat-kan delivered a speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, stating, "Looking back over the past three years, since the Financial Secretary issued the Virtual Asset Policy Declaration in 2022, Hong Kong has made steady progress in areas such as the VASP licensing system, product trials of tokenized bonds, and the 2025 'Policy Declaration 2.0.' The SFC's 'ASPIRE' roadmap and the HKMA's regulatory division of labor have also gradually become clearer, providing the industry with a clear communication partner and roadmap. 'Clarity' is exactly what the industry needs most." Web3 is a global market. Over the past year, the US has made significant progress in crypto regulatory legislation. Trump signed the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill, in July 2025, and the CLARITY Act, a digital asset market structure bill, is currently under review in the Senate, with a possible passage expected between late April and May. The OCC has also approved banks' access to crypto assets, and the SEC and CFTC issued a joint statement last month clarifying that digital goods, digital collectibles, digital instruments, and payment products are not considered securities. This has significant reference value for the global market. The "Safe Harbor" clause, which allows exemptions for tokenized financing up to approximately US$5 million, is also noteworthy. In contrast, Hong Kong has adopted a steady and gradual approach to product classification, legislation, and infrastructure development. What the market needs is stability, transparency, and continuity. In the next phase, Hong Kong should focus on three key areas: participants, products, and legislation. Product categorization is the foundation of market development: HashKey has already tested the waters with its on-chain silver RWA token, HSBC has released a roadmap for its tokenization business, and institutions such as Franklin Templeton are also issuing tokenized funds in Hong Kong. In addition, with the two stablecoin issuer licenses just issued this month, new products will continue to emerge. Regarding the potential threat of quantum computing to crypto assets, I interviewed several quantum researchers in Hong Kong and mainland China. While a breakthrough of 500,000 qubits is still at least five years away, the industry needs to proactively plan its cryptographic development. Furthermore, the global market requires common infrastructure and interconnectivity mechanisms across jurisdictions to create a positive flywheel effect of "clear regulation—product launch—investor entry—more innovators joining." Hong Kong also needs to continue attracting more technology developers.