Bonds, but Make it Crypto

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Because who doesn’t love a good bond? 🤪 Hong Kong is gearing up for its third batch of tokenized bonds, because, apparently, the first two were a real hit. Who knew bonds could be exciting? 😴

Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (try saying that three times fast), announced at the Hong Kong Digital Finance Awards 2025 that the government is all in on tokenized bonds. Because, why not? 🤷‍♀️

These bonds are recorded and settled on distributed ledger technology, which is just a fancy way of saying “blockchain.” According to Wen wei Po, a Beijing state-owned newspaper, because who doesn’t love a good state-owned newspaper? 📰

Hui said the government wants to make tokenized government bonds a regular thing, because who doesn’t love a good regular thing? 📆 To make it happen, they’re considering tax incentives, like exemptions on stamp duty for transfers of tokenized exchange-traded funds. Because, who doesn’t love a good tax break? 🤑

Hong Kong has a whole digital asset strategy, outlined in the Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0, because who doesn’t love a good policy declaration? 📜 It’s all about regulating stablecoins and promoting asset tokenization through the “LEAP” framework, which stands for legal clarity, ecosystem growth, real-world adoption, and talent development. Because, who doesn’t love a good acronym? 🤓

As part of the framework, the government will implement a licensing regime for stablecoin issuers starting August 1, because who doesn’t love a good licensing regime? 📝 It’s supposed to facilitate the development of real-world use cases, whatever that means. 🤔

Meanwhile, the government is consulting the public on proposed licensing rules for digital asset trading platforms and custodians, because who doesn’t love a good public consultation? 🗣️ The consultation period is open until the end of August, so get your comments in while you can! ⏰

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has launched the city’s first digital asset indexes, offering price benchmarks for Bitcoin and Ethereum during Asian trading hours. Because, who doesn’t love a good price benchmark? 📊 It’s supposed to attract institutional investors by providing reliable onshore reference prices. Because, who doesn’t love a good institutional investor? 🤑

Last month, Hong Kong’s financial regulators announced plans to roll out digital asset derivatives trading aimed at professional investors. Because, who doesn’t love a good derivative? 🤯 It’s building on recent approvals for spot cryptocurrency ETFs, futures products, and staking services. Because, who doesn’t love a good staking service? 🔥

In April, HashKey received authorization to provide staking, underscoring the city’s push to establish itself as a top digital finance center. Because, who doesn’t love a good digital finance center? 🌟 In May, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed the Stablecoin Bill, setting the stage for a regulated environment that could cement the city’s role as a global hub for digital assets and Web3 innovation. Because, who doesn’t love a good regulated environment? 🙏

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2025-07-05 13:23