Hong Kong politician responds to Vitalik’s comments about crypto-friendliness

Johnny Ng, a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, took to social media on Sept. 15 in response to comments made by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin about Hong Kong’s future “friendliness” toward cryptocurrencies. 

Ng said he “sincerely invites” Buterin to visit Hong Kong to better understand the region. Additionally he said he would “coordinate with relevant institutions and enterprises to share the situation in Hong Kong.”

昨天就以太坊創始人Vitalik Buterin分享關於在香港發展虛擬資產項目 (Cryptocurrencies Project) 的看法，我尊重他的發言權利，但同時認為他不了解和不:認識香港的情況。我有以下邀請和看法:

1. 我現誠意邀請Vitalik先生來香港了解情況。我願意協調相關的機構和企業向其分享香港的情況。

2.… pic.twitter.com/pnXipv7YE0

— Johnny Ng 吴杰庄 (@Johnny_nkc) September 15, 2023

Buterin made comments at the Web3 Transition Summit in Singapore on Sept. 14, in which he said, “I don’t understand Hong Kong well. I understand even less the complicated interaction between Hong Kong and the mainland lately.” 

“If any crypto project wants to make Hong Kong their home, they would want to have some confidence, not just that it’s friendly now,” he said, “but that it will continue to be friendly years from now when all kinds of unknown, regulatory and political and other kinds of events are going to happen.”

He continued by saying that though Hong Kong is friendly now, he questioned “How stable is the level of friendliness?”

Related: Hong Kong regulator eyes tokenization for bond market improvement: Report

Along with his invitation to Hong Kong Ng responded directly to Buterin’s concerns and said, Hong Kong’s policies “will not change overnight.”

“All relevant strategies and regulations have gone through major social consensus and complete procedures. Therefore, I can tell Mr. Vitalik that Hong Kong’s policies are very stable.”

Ng also stressed that all policies or legislation in Hong Kong go through a period of discussion which includes “government policy writing, public consultation, discussions in multiple committees of the Legislative Council and the General Assembly.”

This comes as Hong Kong continues to retain its place as the top “crypto-ready” place for two consecutive years, with a score of 8.36 compared to the United States at 7.25. 

On Aug. 30 HashKey and OSL became the first exchanges to receive clearance to offer retail crypto services in Hong Kong. Cryptocurrency exchange OKX recently entered the final stage of preparing for its license in Hong Kong.

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