As the global crypto industry continues to grapple with increasing regulatory scrutiny and clampdowns, new hubs for the virtual asset industry are emerging. One such emerging hub is Hong Kong, which recently proposed rules allowing retail investors to trade certain “large-cap tokens” on licensed exchanges, contrasting mainland China’s outright ban on crypto-related transactions.

Based on what I know, The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has not yet specified which large tokens would be allowed. Still, industry insiders speculate it would likely be Bitcoin and Ether, two of the biggest digital assets by market value.

While China’s clampdown on crypto trading was intended to protect individual investors from speculative activity, the increasing number of bankruptcies and layoffs in the global crypto industry may have justified their actions.

Nevertheless, the crypto industry continues to attract talent and investment, making it hard to imagine Beijing sitting idly while the rest of the world develops new building blocks that could potentially spark a new wave of innovation as big as the current internet itself.

China’s crackdown on crypto trading has led many of its web3 startups to look abroad, with many of them setting up new bases in more crypto-friendly locations like Singapore and Dubai. However, with Hong Kong’s introduction of a more relaxed regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies, some Chinese-founded web3 companies in exile may consider returning home to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has a long history as a financial hub and can potentially be a laboratory for China’s policymakers to test out blockchain’s potential with some buffer for the nation’s one billion netizens. The city’s proposal stipulates that all centralised virtual currency exchanges operating in the city or marketing services to the territory’s investors must obtain licenses from the securities and futures authority.

The proposed requirements cover key areas such as safe custody of assets, know-your-client, conflicts of interest, cybersecurity, accounting and auditing, risk management, anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism, and prevention of market misconduct.

In addition to ensuring suitability in onboarding clients and token admission, the other key proposals relate to token due diligence, governance, and disclosures.

Also Read: IMF calls for cryptocurrency regulation to ensure financial stability

In other words, centralised crypto exchanges must ban Hong Kong IP addresses until they obtain the relevant permits to operate in the city. The regulatory requirements are currently open for consultation until March 31, and the new licensing regime will take effect on June 1.

This move by Hong Kong is strategic, and it can attract crypto companies and investments to the city. Implementing clear regulatory frameworks would help the industry gain mainstream adoption and bring in more institutional investors.

The crypto industry has come a long way since the inception of Bitcoin over a decade ago. With the emergence of DeFi (Decentralised Finance) and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), the industry has grown significantly, and this growth is expected to continue. However, to achieve its full potential, it needs to address its regulatory concerns.

The introduction of clear regulatory frameworks can help crypto companies gain mainstream acceptance, bring in more institutional investors, and pave the way for new and innovative use cases for blockchain technology. Hong Kong’s move towards a more relaxed regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies is a significant step in the right direction, and I hope that other countries will follow suit.

AML crypto regulations in Hong Kong

The Legislative Council passed the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Bill 2022 (AML/CTF Amendment Bill 2022) on December 7, 2022. This bill introduced a licensing regime for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and imposed anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CTF), and investor protection obligations upon these actors.

VASPs that are licensed in Hong Kong are subject to a number of AML, CTF, and investor protection obligations. These include:

• Customer Due Diligence (CDD): VASPs must conduct CDD on their customers, which includes identifying and verifying the identity of the customer, the beneficial owner, and any other person who exercises control over the customer. VASPs must also assess and understand the nature and purpose of the business relationship with the customer.
• Ongoing monitoring: VASPs must monitor their customers’ transactions on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are consistent with their knowledge of the customer, the customer’s business, and the risks associated with the customer.
• Record-keeping: VASPs must maintain adequate records of their customers, their transactions, and their risk assessments. These records must be kept for a period of at least five years.
• Reporting: VASPs are required to report suspicious transactions to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU) of Hong Kong. Suspicious transactions include those that are inconsistent with the customer’s profile, those that have no apparent economic or lawful purpose, or those that involve the proceeds of crime.
• Investor protection: VASPs must also put in place measures to protect their customers’ assets. This includes measures such as segregation of customer assets from the VASP’s own assets and insurance against losses.
• Penalties for non-compliance: VASPs that fail to comply with the new regulations are subject to a range of penalties, including fines, suspension or revocation of their license, and criminal liability. Individuals who are found guilty of money laundering or terrorist financing may face imprisonment of up to 14 years and fines of up to HK$5 million.

The new regulations also provide for the imposition of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council or by Hong Kong in respect of breaches of international sanctions.

Licensing and registration requirements for VASPs in Hong Kong

Anyone who engages in a virtual asset exchange business in Hong Kong must apply for a license with the SFC. The AML/CTF Amendment Bill 2022 also introduced regulations for VASPs to comply with the Crypto travel rule.

Also Read: Singapore’s new payments law is a boon for the crypto community

The HKMA will only grant licenses to VASPs that meet certain criteria, including:

• The company must be incorporated in Hong Kong.
• The company must have a permanent place of business in Hong Kong.
• The company must have adequate financial resources.
• The company must have appropriate AML/CTF systems and controls in place.
• The company must have a compliance officer responsible for ensuring the company’s compliance with the new regulations.

VASPs that fail to obtain a license will be prohibited from providing virtual asset services in Hong Kong.

Complying with the crypto travel rule in Hong Kong

The crypto travel rule will be effective in Hong Kong as of June 1, 2023. The new regulatory regime will provide industries with a grace period to prepare for compliance until that date. In Hong Kong, Travel Rule requirements apply regardless of the transaction amount.

The scope of data to be exchanged varies depending on the threshold of the transaction. For virtual assets that amount to HK$8,000 or more, the following information needs to be shared: name, account number, and address of the originator, as well as the beneficiary’s name and account number. For virtual assets that amount to less than HK$8,000, only the name and account number of the originator and beneficiary are required.

There are no differences in customer personally identifiable information (PII) requirements for cross-border transfers and transfers within Hong Kong. However, for wire transfers, the information recorded must include the number of the originator’s account or a unique reference number assigned to the wire transfer by the financial institution.

Non-custodial or self-hosted wallet transactions do not have any specific requirements in Hong Kong. The AML/CTF Amendment Bill 2022 defines virtual asset transfers subject to Crypto Travel Rule requirements as transactions for transferring virtual assets carried out by an institution on behalf of an originator, with a view to making the virtual assets available to the originator or another person at an institution, which may be the ordering institution or another institution.

In conclusion, Hong Kong’s proposal to allow retail investors to trade large-cap tokens on licensed exchanges is a significant development for the global crypto industry.

While China’s crackdown on crypto trading was aimed at protecting individual investors from speculative activity, the regulatory framework proposed by Hong Kong is more relaxed and can potentially attract more crypto companies and investments to the city. The implementation of clear regulatory frameworks would help the industry gain mainstream adoption and bring in more institutional investors.

I am looking forward to seeing a striking balance between the both.

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Canva Pro

The post Hong Kong introduces regulatory measures for crypto trading platforms to enhance security appeared first on e27.

Lisa Gibbons is a passionate storyteller with over 15 years of experience. She writes for numerous publications and is the co-founder of the Irish Shebeen, the first Irish Pub in the metaverse. She has a love for all things blockchain, the metaverse and sustainability.

Most recently, she spoke at the Women in Technology series in London about the future impact of NFTs. She was awarded runner-up in the hacker noon contributor for climate change for 2022. She worked on bringing the leading Web3 projects and impact investors together to discuss the opportunities for creating a greener future.

Gibbons also founded Orchardsnearme.com, a platform dedicated to wild food foraging and sustainable food distribution and is a member of The Writing Studio, a platform dedicated to improving storytelling in Web3. 

Her interest lies in bridging the world of Web2 to Web3.

Gibbons regularly contributes articles for e27 (you can read her thought leadership articles here).

In this candid interview, she talks about his personal and professional life.

How would you explain what you do to a five-year-old?

I write and make stuff that you can play with on your phone.

What has been the biggest highlight/challenge of your career so far?

The challenge for females who want to lead is juggling several balls and getting their voices heard. Building and launching the first Irish Pub in a Web3 metaverse will be up there in terms of achievements for me.

How do you envision the next five years of your career in the blockchain space?

I imagine I won’t get off the Web3 rollercoaster anytime soon. I am firmly in education mode and soaking up knowledge about metaverse opportunities and the blockchain industry in all its forms. 

I want to continue exploring the various ecosystems. I was recently appointed to the Advisory Board of a design-focused metaverse platform called Neoki and a blockchain-focused charity platform, Charitablez.

What are some of your favourite work tools?

I like the one-stop-shop approach that Google Suite offers. I also use Discord, Slack, and Calendly. More recently, I began experimenting with ChatGPT.

What’s something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I love to forage for wild plants and mushrooms at the weekends. I grew up with foragers, and my grandfather taught me how to hunt for mushrooms. It may be where my wandering mind comes from.

Do you prefer WFH or WFO, or hybrid?

I enjoy hybrid or working from home. I tend to be more productive away from the pressure of housework.

What would you tell your younger self?

When I was younger, I had a university education on a pedestal and was determined to get my Masters’s degree. Upon reflection, education is fantastic for building consistency and many softer skills required for working, but I would have spent more time learning outside of the classroom setting.

Also Read: The most important person I need to sell to is myself: Jeffrey Liu of Jenfi

Feel free to take several paths; we all end up in the same place, so the paths to get there should be varied and full of adventure.

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Passionate, fiery, fast-paced.

What are you most likely to be doing if not working?

Spending time with family, experimenting with wild food, reading, painting…the list goes on.

What are you currently reading/listening to/ watching?

I watched The Last of Us and loved the characters. Also, Red Rose on Netflix has gotten the hairs on my neck to stand up. I listen to the All in Podcast regularly. I read literary theory to keep my brain on the right treadmill.

—

Join the e27 contributor community of thought leaders and share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The post The challenge for female leaders is to get their voices heard: Lisa Gibbons, Blockchain Advocate appeared first on e27.

Ohmyhome has become the first Singaporean firm to list on the Nasdaq in 2023.

The proptech company raised about US$11.2 million from the issue of 3.6 million ordinary shares (priced at US$4 per share).

Its shares started trading at midnight Singapore time on Wednesday under the ticker “OMH”.

Per the MarketWatch data, the trading is closed for the day at US$4.07 per share.

Started in September 2016 by sisters Rhonda and Race Wong, Ohmyhome is a one-stop-shop platform providing end-to-end property solutions and services to customers.

Ohmyhome connects buyers and sellers directly at no cost. The platform boasts features such as ‘ShoutOut’ and ‘Open House’ to enhance the overall user experience.

It operates on a hybrid model — a do-it-yourself (DIY) platform and fully-fledged agency services.

The company has operations in the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In August 2021, Ohmyhome secured US$5 million in financing from Singaporean investor Swettenham Blue. Two years earlier, the startup bagged US$2.9 million in a Series A round led by Golden Equator Capital.

—

Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the e27platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

The post Singaporean proptech firm Ohmyhome raises US$11.2M from Nasdaq IPO appeared first on e27.

When it comes to tackling the impact of climate change and the involvement of businesses in it, there seemed to be a level of pessimism.

Grace Sai, Unravel Carbon Co-Founder and a speaker at the climate tech panel at Echelon 2022, revealed in an interview with e27 that there is a lack of urgency among companies in achieving net zero targets.

“Public awareness of climate change has increased in recent years, especially with the rise of intense climate-related disasters. Regardless of whether society acknowledges it, the impacts are already at our doorsteps and felt by many,” she said.

“I’ve observed that while there has been an increase in companies setting net zero targets, the urgency in achieving these climate goals is lacking — 40 per cent of them don’t even have a target year to achieve these commitments yet. With the era of pledges behind us, the next critical decade must focus on pathways.”

Understanding the need to uncover these pathways is why we must go beyond the ceremonial and focus on the practical.

Also Read: SG Budget 2023: Greater push towards net zero provides opportunities for startups

This why, as you might see below, Sustainable Growth and Climate will be one of the six themes spotlighted at Echelon Asia Summit 2023:

• Soonicorns and the Future Change-makers of SEA
• Future Sectors and Investment Trends
• Growth and Scaling
• Investments and M&A
• Sustainable Growth and Climate
• Web3

We are now on the lookout for the right speakers for the Sustainable Growth and Climate track.

It is important to note that expertise on this track does not just come from companies that are strictly working in the climate tech sector. Tackling the impact of climate change is a responsibility for all of us; no matter what business vertical you are working on, there is got to be a role that you can play. This is why we would like to hear how your company aims to decarbonise your operations. Are you developing your own solutions? Or do you work with third parties? How do you build a culture of climate sustainability in your team?

For the climate tech startups and investors, we are also looking forward to hear more about what is coming up next in your journey.

Ready to stage your stories to the audiences at Echelon Asia Summit 2023? Register HERE and we will get in touch soon.

We are in this together!

—

Echelon Asia Summit 2023 is bringing together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups get the chance to pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like a chance to connect with investors, visibility through e27 platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

The post Sustaining the work: How businesses can take a step forward in their move towards net zero appeared first on e27.

Philippine startups raised over US$1 billion in investments in 2022 for the second consecutive year amidst a slowing economy, according to a report released by local VC firm Foxmont Capital. This marks a seven per cent rise over the total investments in 2021.

In comparison, worldwide VC investments shrunk by 37 per cent in 2022, with a 27 per cent decrease in Southeast Asia.

The under-US$5 million deals dominated in 2o22 in the Philippines. However, there had been tremendous growth in later-stage deals in the year, reflecting the overall maturing state of the startup ecosystem.

With 17 deals, Foxmont Capital was the most active VC fund in the Philippines last year.

In 2022, many regional funds also forayed into the Philippines, including Do Ventures, Reefknot Investments, Alpha JWC Ventures, East Ventures, TNB Aura, QUest Ventures, and January Capital.

Also Read: Are startups neglecting the future middle-class population in Philippines?

According to the Foxmont Capital research, 2023 also looks promising, with 17 investments already made into Philippine startups in Q1.

Since 2020, the Philippine share of venture capital amongst neighbouring countries has grown over 4x. Over the past two years, most investments were made into Filipino startups in e-commerce and fintech.

Other highlights of the Foxmont Capital report

• Digital finance is a rapidly growing opportunity owing to new regulations for digibanks and other non-banking financial players.
• Sari-sari stores are following patterns across the region and becoming gateways to the digital economy, becoming both a distribution channel for end-consumers and B2B customers
• The growth is exponential for homegrown direct-to-consumer brands that have worked towards omnichannel presence through the help of e-commerce platforms, social commerce and other e-commerce enablers.

—

Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the e27platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

The post Philippine startups raise over US$1B in 2022, under-US$5M deals dominate: report appeared first on e27.