Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
Hong Kong regulators FOMO amid SEC Bitcoin Spot ETF approval
Hong Kong Legislative Council Member Johnny Ng wants the Special Administrative Region of China to accelerate the approval of local spot Bitcoin ETFs following their approval in the United States this week. Ng noted the Hong Securities and Futures Commission had previously stated it was ready to accept applications for Bitcoin ETFs:
“I hope that with the rapid development and high competition of virtual assets, Hong Kong can seize a seat in the world as soon as possible. This will be the first opportunity to implement relevant policies and products in Asia and consolidate Hong Kong’s opportunity to become a global center for virtual assets.”
Ng also spoke of the need to “strengthen popular education on virtual assets” to enhance awareness and mitigate scams. Hong Kong has experienced the biggest financial scams in its history last year with the collapse of unlicensed crypto exchanges JPEX and Hounax.
In a separate interview on Jan. 10, Livio Weng, chief operating officer of HashKey Group, disclosed that 10 financial services firms are currently preparing applications for spot Bitcoin ETF listings in Hong Kong. The SFC greenlighted pathways for the approval of such applications in December 2023. Bitcoin futures ETFs, including one issued by Samsung, have been around on Hong Kong exchanges for some time.
Wemix’s rollercoaster start to 2024
South Korean gaming giant Wemix has had quite the roller-coaster start to 2024.
On Jan. 9, developers of the $2.65 billion Wemix blockchain said they would halt block minting rewards by Q1 2024. Currently, WEMIX tokens possess an inflation rate of 3.15% per annum. Instead of new token emissions, they will instead incentivize ecosystem protocols using WEMIX tokens already held by the foundation’s digital wallets. Combined with a token burn mechanism for gas…
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