Crypto Firm Circle Eyeing Hong Kong Policies With Asia in Focus

Suvashree Ghosh and Stephen Engle, Bloomberg News

A cryptocurrency ATM, operated by Coinunit.io, at a laundromat in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Hong Kong, which is preparing to introduce a new regime for trading digital assets, is responding to concerns raised by industry players about the shortage of a crucial type of worker. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- US-based Circle Internet Financial Ltd. is closely watching regulatory developments in Hong Kong after the territory’s new crypto rules went into effect, according to Jeremy Allaire, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer.

“Hong Kong clearly is looking to establish itself as a very significant center for digital assets markets and for stablecoins and we are paying very close attention to that,” Allaire said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China, on Tuesday.

As the issuer of USD Coin, the world’s second-largest stablecoin, Asia is “a huge area of focus,” he added.

The remarks come after Circle received a license as a major payments institution in Singapore, allowing it to offer digital payment token services as well as domestic and cross-border money transfer services in the city-state. The Singapore license will help Circle to distribute its USD Coin “more fully in the region.”

Hong Kong rolled out a new crypto regulatory regime starting June 1 at a time when global digital assets firms are seeking new destinations that are suitable and safe for investors and users amid a crackdown in the US. Hong Kong has yet to come out with regulations governing stablecoins.

Hong Kong’s pivot toward becoming a digital-asset hub has quiet backing from Beijing even as trading remains banned on the mainland. The new stance in Hong Kong has stirred hopes that China could eventually lift its crypto ban sooner rather than later.

Read More: Hong Kong Crypto Ambitions Get Guarded Reception From Firms

“What’s happening in Hong Kong may be a proxy for ultimately how do these markets grow in Greater China,” Allaire said.

Jurisdictions like Hong Kong and Dubai are seeking to attract companies, while Singapore plans curbs on retail-investor participation. The European Union in April approved the most comprehensive digital-asset rules of any developed economy.

“We see enormous demand for digital dollars in emerging markets and Asia is really center of that,” Allaire said.