- Hong Kong to offer tax breaks on digital assets, easing the tax burden for citizens investing in cryptocurrencies.
- SFC to list fully licensed crypto exchanges by 2024, enhancing trust and compliance in country’s digital finance market.
- Hong Kong launches Virtual Asset Index and boosts AI as part of its push to lead Asia’s digital finance landscape.
Hong Kong is continuing to strengthen its position as a financial technology hub with new measures that will promote investment in digital assets and enhance the development of AI. According to a recent report, Christopher Hui, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, stated that tax exemptions will be offered to digital asset investments. This may serve to reduce the tax pressure on Hong Kong residents involved in the operations with cryptocurrencies.
This legislation that is expected to be proposed to the city before this year ends proves the city’s interest in developing the conditions for digital finance. Tax incentives form the cornerstone of the Hong Kong government’s plan to position the city as a leading hub for digital assets.
Hong Kong Crypto Regulations
In parallel with these trends, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is enhancing rules for better defining digital asset exchanges. During the SFC’s Fintech that week event, Eric Yip, the Executive Director for Intermediaries at the SFC, revealed that a list of fully licensed crypto exchanges will be provided to the public before the end of 2024. This list will also help to define which platforms are compliant with the rules of country and help the investors to choose only trustworthy trading instruments.
Further, the SFC is forming a consultation panel to enhance its communication with these licensed exchanges and this is expected to be effective from the first quarter of 2025. This comes as part of the Hong Kong’s effort to ensure a high level of crypto governance and security.
To enhance the digital economy, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited said it would launch a Virtual Asset Index Series on November 15, 2024. This index will provide reference rates of Bitcoin and Ether in Asia Pacific trading time to increase the participation of participants from the region in digital asset markets.
AI and Crypto Expansion
At the same time, the Hong Kong SAR is also stepping up its investment in artificial intelligence, which is affected by the US and China technology war. Some of the most popular US-based AI services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as well as Chinese apps from Baidu and ByteDance, are still unavailable to users in country.
Hong Kong wants to strengthen its position as the new generation financial hub by promoting both cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. This approach has been developed in the light of improving technology and evolving international compliance standards.
