CEO Circle: Hong Kong to Become a Hub for the Digital-Asset Market

Hong Kong will strengthen its position in the digital-asset market and stablecoins. The view was shared by the CEO of the co-emitter USDC — Circle — Jeremy Allaire, Bloomberg reports.

According to the executive, what is happening in Hong Kong could serve as an example for Mainland China.

“We see enormous demand for digital dollars in developing markets. Asia is playing a leading role,” Allaire said.

The Circle CEO said it is closely watching regulatory changes in Hong Kong after the new rules took effect, as the region is “of enormous interest.”

In June 2023 the company received a license MPI from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which will help to more actively distribute the stablecoin in the region.

The SFC rules, which took effect on 1 June 2023, established safe custody of assets, their segregation, prevention of conflicts of interest and cybersecurity standards.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will, during 2023-2024 will introduce mandatory licensing for stablecoin issuers. The regulator plans to oversee the management, issuance and safeguarding of the token peg to fiat.

Earlier, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire called enforcement actions the main factor behind USDC’s capitalizationUSDC. The executive did not rule out the United States losing its lead in the sector to the EU, Hong Kong and the UAE.

In June, reports emerged that First Digital from the Special Administrative Region of China to launch a dollar-pegged stablecoin.