Hong Kong is getting serious about how it manages digital money. A major group of financial experts is worried that the city is being a bit too strict. They think the new rules might scare off regular money managers who want to try out crypto. This group officially shared their concerns this week. They are especially upset about a plan that takes away a helpful shortcut for people managing funds.
Right now, if you manage a fund in Hong Kong, you can put a small amount of money into crypto without a special permit. As long as it is less than ten percent of the total fund, you just have to tell the bosses and you are good to go. But the new plan would change that to zero. This means even if you only want to buy a tiny bit of Bitcoin for a client, you would have to go through a long and expensive process to get a full license.
The experts say this is a huge burden for people who just want to keep their options open. They call it an all or nothing way of doing things. It might stop traditional managers from even touching digital assets because the paperwork and costs would be too high. This comes as the government tries to regulate every single bit of crypto activity in the city, no matter how small it is.
Another big worry is where the digital assets are kept. The government wants all managers to use only officially approved local storage providers. The professional group says this is not very practical. Many new tech projects and early stage tokens don’t work with those specific providers yet. They think managers should be allowed to store the assets themselves or use trusted partners from other countries.
The group actually likes the idea of having clear rules for digital money. They just don’t want the rules to be so tight that they choke out new ideas. If Hong Kong makes things too difficult, they fear businesses will just leave. Places like Singapore and Dubai are working hard to attract these same companies by being a bit more flexible.
Regulators have already started handing out licenses for trading and other services. They are still listening to what people think about these newest changes for a few more weeks. After that, they will likely make the final rules sometime later this year. For now, everyone in the financial world is watching closely to see if Hong Kong will stay a top spot for tech.
