The startup accelerator, co-founded by Hong Kong Legislative Council member Jonny Ng Kit-Chong, hopes to attract 1,000 Web3 businesses to set up shop in the city-state over the next three years.
Ng Kit-Chong is a member of the Legislative Council of the Electoral Commission constituency, a position he has held since January of this year. The engineer and politician has taken many bets as he claims to own shares in about 40 different companies.
One such company is startup accelerator G-Rocket, co-founded with Casper Wong in 2016.
Current CEO Wong told the South China Morning Post on Dec. 23 about the company’s aptly named new program, “Hong Kong Web 3.0 Hub.”
The CEO outlined that G-Rocket initially aims to help 100 Web3 startups get their businesses off the ground, and then expand that number to 1,000 within three years. did.
“We hope to help bring good companies and talent back to Hong Kong in the post-pandemic era,” Wong said.
In particular, Wong said it will work with virtual ZA Bank, a government-run incubator called Cyberport, and real estate conglomerate New World Development to help Hong Kong start-ups access office space, banking and government services. rice field.
Broader Web3 Push
The G-Rocket initiative comes as part of a broader push from the Hong Kong government to make China’s Special Administrative Region (SAR) a cryptocurrency hub that can compete with Singapore.
In late October, Elizabeth Wong, head of the fintech division of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), unveiled a number of progressive regulatory crypto proposals, including legalizing crypto asset trading.
A government statement dated October 31 stated, “We will establish timely and necessary crash barriers to mitigate actual and potential risks in line with international standards to ensure that virtual asset innovation is sustainable in Hong Kong.” We will do our best to help you succeed.”
As of October 31, the SFC also began allowing exchange traded funds (ETFs) offering exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) to be listed, with CSOP Asset Management being one of the first to enter. It’s one.
Related: Hong Kong could be key to China’s crypto revival — Arthur Hayes
Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 15 that CSOP Asset Management had raised $73.6 million in investments before listing two cryptocurrency futures ETFs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange the next day.
On December 8, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council also passed amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Terrorist Financing System to include virtual asset service providers in addition to traditional financial institutions.
