加密货币：香港落后于新加坡。
今天《日经亚洲论坛》发表了Flex Yang, 香港一个加密货币金融公司CEO的文章。他说香港对加密货币交易所和投资的监管过于严格，不如新加坡那么进取、创新和灵活。这是一个非常遗憾的事情。因为中国大陆是加密货币之都。大陆当局打击加密货币交易所，但是大陆毕竟是加密货币挖掘中心。而且大陆人民对加密货币最为热衷。
香港当局在金融监管方面一向过于严苛。比如香港股票交易所以前过度强调同股同权。结果中国的创新企业都去了美国上市。最后，为了竞争的原因，香港当局只好自己打自己的嘴巴，允许同股不同权的企业来上市。这样才迎来阿里巴巴、小米、美团、京东的上市。
在加密货币的监管方面，香港以前甚至有过加密货币ATM取款机。可是2019年又搞了一套监管制度，只允许专业投资者参与交易。反观新加坡的沙盒sandbox，政策更加灵活。东南亚最大的银行，新加坡发展银行DBS甚至成立了自己的交易所。香港如果想保住金融中心地位的话，就必须把反洗钱、谨慎监管、灵活试验结合起来。把创新挡着门外，这只是落后的表现。还没打仗就投降？
英文全文如下。
Hong Kong should not take cryptocurrency finance for granted
Singapore is ready to welcome innovative companies
Flex Yang
January 30, 2021 05:00 JST. Flex Yang is the founder and chief executive of Babel Finance, a cryptocurrency financial services company based in Hong Kong.
While Hong Kong has seen some setbacks of late, it remains Asia’s foremost hub for most types of finance.
Cryptofinance, the provision of financial services for investors in bitcoin and other virtual currencies, however, is one area where Hong Kong has lagged behind Singapore and is in danger of losing more ground unless there is a change of course soon.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the central bank and financial regulator, has been actively pushing for innovation in blockchain technology and the country has welcomed financial technology companies with a regulatory sandbox in which they can test new products and services within a controlled and supervised environment.
State-owned DBS Bank last December announced plans to roll out a digital trading platform, which would be a first for a traditional Asian bank. This will allow customers to buy and sell the cryptocurrencies bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Ripple.
Other local banks in Singapore are looking into similar offerings, including cryptocurrency custody and exchange services.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, Ashley Alder, chief executive of the city’s Securities and Futures Commission, surprised industry watchers in November when he announced the government would require cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the city to be licensed as part of a plan to improve alignment with global money laundering and terrorism financing standards.
As part of the plan, exchange access would be restricted to “professional investors,” which in Hong Kong means those with at least 8 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.03 million) in assets.
This would mark a big change from Hong Kong’s previous laissez-faire approach under which the city became one of the first in the world to host cryptocurrency ATMs. The SFC has had an exchange licensing system since 2019, but operators were previously allowed to chose whether or not to register.
OSL Digital Securities, a platform backed by Fidelity International and other investors, last month became the city’s first licensed exchange. My company, Babel Finance, applied to the SFC for an asset management license in November.
The city’s regulators understandably want to give the world the message that Hong Kong is up to the task of overseeing the boom in cryptocurrency-related investing in the city. But they risk missing opportunities and throttling innovation by moving too quickly and firmly to rein in the sector. Consider the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s previous policy of accepting listing applications only from companies whose every share carried the same voting power.
As many technology companies have corporate structures that give their founders enhanced control, HKEX’s inflexible rule led Alibaba Group Holding to hold its $25 billion initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 instead of the HKEX. Other major Chinese technology companies followed its path to New York over the following years.
Recognizing the lost opportunity, the HKEX has relaxed its listing criteria over the past three years, leading Alibaba to establish a secondary position on the exchange. Xiaomi, Meituan, JD.com and other Chinese tech players have come to Hong Kong, too, for a first or second listing under the reformed rules.
A flexible yet comprehensive legal framework is crucial to securing Hong Kong’s position as a leader in cryptocurrency finance.
As the SFC wraps up a public consultation on its planned new rules on Jan. 31, it is evident that one way forward would be to establish a regulatory pilot zone, similar to Singapore’s sandbox, to let companies trial innovative cryptocurrency products in a controlled environment.
As useful as this would be for the companies, this would also provide a valuable learning experience for Hong Kong’s regulators in developing ways to balance risk with the creation of new business models.
Any new regulatory framework in Hong Kong should leave space for both retail and professional investors. Uneven treatment would likely hamper the growth of the industry while appropriate anti-money laundering policies should be able to balance official concerns with different investment needs.
Importantly, Hong Kong still holds some advantages over Singapore due to its closer proximity and connections with mainland China.
Chinese companies continue to lead development in several areas of the cryptocurrency industry. The country is home to a number of the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining operations and its biggest makers of cryptocurrency mining equipment.
Beijing, though, has cracked down on cryptocurrency exchanges and trading within the mainland. This policy stance on cryptocurrency is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Mainland authorities have taken the alternative path of promoting development of a national digital currency. Officials have been testing the digital yuan in three cities and a development area near Beijing, gradually stepping up its public circulation.
Thus, Hong Kong has an opportunity to leverage its favored position with high net-worth individuals from China and other Asian markets, as well as institutional investors, to carve out a bigger regional role in cryptocurrency finance. Staying competitive with Singapore, however, will require the city’s regulators to foster a flexible and innovative environment, with clear guidance and an open-minded attitude toward calculated risk-taking.
Yiwei Wang contributed to this article.