On July 1, 2025, on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, the "Pearl of the Orient·Digital Chain Future: Hong Kong's New Dimension of Web 3 Empowering Global Finance" Space event co-organized by Web 3 Labs, Techub News and Golden Finance was successfully held at 19:30 (UTC+8). This event focuses on Hong Kong's innovative practices in the fields of Web 3 and global finance. Focusing on the theme of "RWA Revolution - Hong Kong with Trillion-level Assets on the Chain", it brings together industry experts to discuss the opportunities and challenges of real-world assets (RWA) on the chain. The host, Alma, founder of Techub News, and Chinese Web 3 host Qie Ge led the discussion. Guests included Paolo, chief strategy officer of VDX trading platform, Gilbert Ng, legal director of Mulan Investment Management, Yu Jianing, president of Uweb, Tony Fu, CEO of RWA Group, and KOL voice group Big Cousin, Qianqianqian Xiaoyu and Ohmann (Zhang Aoman). The following is the core sharing of the discussion between the host and guests of this space

How RWA promotes the digital transformation of Hong Kong's financial sector (Paolo, Chief Strategy Officer of VDX Trading Platform)

Moderator Alma asked, as a global financial center, how can Hong Kong combine blockchain technology with the regulatory framework to promote RWA on-chain, solve the liquidity and transparency problems of traditional financial assets, and promote the digital transformation of trillion-level assets?

Paolo, Chief Strategy Officer of VDX Trading Platform, analyzed from a macro perspective, pointing out that the implementation of the stablecoin bills in the United States and Hong Kong has triggered a wave of virtual asset layout by traditional finance and Chinese securities firms, reflecting the compliance and institutionalization trend of virtual assets. He positioned the US strategy as "digital colonization on the chain", strengthening the hegemony of the US dollar through the distribution of stablecoins and US bonds, attracting global funds to form a Matthew effect; Hong Kong is positioned as a "trading port on the chain", taking advantage of the "one country, two systems" advantage, as a window for mainland assets to attract foreign investment, and exploring non-dollar clearing and settlement solutions. Paolo emphasized that stablecoins and RWA represent the mapping of the capital side and the asset side on the chain respectively. Hong Kong promotes the internationalization of the RMB and the construction of an independent clearing and settlement network through RWA, and occupies a unique position in global financial innovation.

Legal Compliance and Opportunities for RWAs (Gilbert Ng, Legal Director of Magnolia Investment Management)

Moderator Alma asked, from a legal perspective, which areas in the development of Hong Kong's RWA industry are feasible, which are restricted, and what opportunities and legal challenges exist?

Gilbert Ng, legal director of Magnolia Investment Management, pointed out that Hong Kong's attitude towards virtual assets has shifted from the misunderstanding of "money laundering" to regulatory support since 2017. The three major legal concerns of RWA development include:

1. Traditional financial institutions prefer private chains to ensure compliance;
2. The custody plan must be clear and meet the requirements of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC);
3. Transaction records must comply with the off-chain "gold standard" of traditional finance. Real estate RWA faces challenges due to off-chain registration requirements, but restrictions can be circumvented by fundizing rental income; bonds and funds are easier to approve due to standardization. Lawyer Wu further clarified that the compliance of RWA depends on whether the underlying assets are regulated by the Securities and Futures Ordinance. For example, non-securities assets such as spot gold are not assets regulated by the Securities and Futures Ordinance, and the compliance threshold is likely to be relatively low. Hong Kong's secondary market has great potential, but the infrastructure is insufficient. If the Hong Kong stablecoin can support the internationalization of the RMB after its launch, it can expand the market.

Crypto Native’s view on Hong Kong RWA (Ohmann)

Moderator Alma asked Crypto Native practitioner Ohmann whether he was paying attention to Hong Kong RWA, whether he would trade related tokens, and his views on development prospects.

Ohmann said that as a "veteran in the cryptocurrency circle", he pays attention to the RWA concept, especially when researching projects or investing in KOL rounds, but is cautious about trading Hong Kong RWA tokens. He prefers to invest in familiar areas to increase his chances of winning. Because he is in the mainland, he has limited knowledge of RWA assets such as Hong Kong real estate and artworks, and is worried about being "cheated". He recognizes the advantages of RWA in lowering the investment threshold of high-value assets and improving liquidity through tokenization, but personal investment needs reliable guidance. Ohmann did not explicitly comment on the prospects of Hong Kong RWA, but hinted that its potential needs to be combined with local market insights and risk control.

Target user groups of RWA

Moderator Alma asked RWA Group CEO Tony Fu, who will be the main user group of RWA after the tokenization of high-quality assets?

Tony Fu, CEO of RWA Group, believes that RWA’s success requires buying support, and its user groups are divided into two categories:

1. Crypto Native investors, who have made profits in the cryptocurrency world and are unable to double their profits in the face of high cryptocurrency prices, tend to allocate their earnings to traditional assets through RWA and keep them in crypto form to avoid tax and regulatory complexities;
2. High net worth individuals in traditional finance have disposable funds exceeding HK$10 million. Due to the economic downturn, they are cautious about traditional investments and are willing to allocate a small proportion of funds to RWA to diversify risks and pursue potential high returns.

Such users may be exposed to cryptocurrencies for the first time and participate in RWA investment through stablecoins and wallets in Hong Kong. Tony Fu emphasized that the Hong Kong RWA market can connect cryptocurrencies with traditional finance, promote the tokenization of high-quality assets, and attract global funds.

The driving effect of stablecoins on RWA and the prospects of tokenization of Hong Kong stocks

Moderator Alma asked Uweb President Yu Jianing where the opportunities for stablecoins in Hong Kong lie, their role in the development of RWA, and whether Hong Kong stocks could follow the example of U.S. stocks in tokenization.

Yu Jianing, president of Uweb, pointed out that the Stablecoin Regulation Ordinance, which will be implemented on August 1, 2025, marks the world's first legal currency stablecoin regulatory framework, positioning stablecoins as payment and settlement tools, which has sparked heated discussions in the market. Hong Kong can issue stablecoins in US dollars or Hong Kong dollars, but US dollar stablecoins are more attractive due to their strong liquidity, although mature US regulation makes their licenses more competitive. Stablecoins provide efficient cross-border payment support for RWAs, and RWA development is divided into three stages: currency tokenization (stablecoins), bond/commodity tokenization, and stock tokenization. The United States leads through the tokenization of US stocks (such as Robinhood perpetual contracts), and the tokenization of Hong Kong stocks is difficult to achieve due to the restrictions of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's franchise. Yu Jianing believes that Hong Kong needs to accelerate innovation, explore REIT and ABS tokenization, and use the advantages of "one country, two systems" to attract cross-border assets, but needs to be wary of competitive pressure from the United States.

The significance of stablecoins to the compliant issuance of RWA

The host Alma asked KOL Qianqianqianxiaoyu about the significance of Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Regulatory Ordinance" to the on-chain and compliant issuance of RWA assets, as well as her views on the types of stablecoins.

Xiaoyu believes that the Hong Kong Stablecoin Ordinance promotes the development of RWA from the regulatory and compliance levels. In terms of supervision, the issuer must obtain a HKMA license and establish a local entity. The reserve assets must be highly liquid (such as bonds, Hong Kong dollars) and entrusted to a licensed trust to ensure transparency and security. In terms of compliance, stablecoins shorten the RWA settlement cycle to seconds, cross-chain transactions are free from the risk of value fluctuations, assets are verifiable and traceable, meet central bank standards, and facilitate audits and tax calculations. Xiaoyu emphasized that stablecoins provide RWA with an efficient and transparent trading environment and promote the issuance and circulation of digital assets. She did not explicitly prefer US dollar or Hong Kong dollar stablecoins, but emphasized that asset quality and compliance are key.

RWA’s role and advantages in Hong Kong’s Web 3 ecosystem

The host Alma asked KOL Big Cousin about the significance of RWA in Hong Kong's Web 3 ecosystem and how Hong Kong can leverage its advantages to promote the development of RWA.

Big cousin is cautious about the concept of RWA (real world assets), believing that it is more of a hype at present, with many drawbacks, especially in China and Hong Kong, where related fraud cases have increased significantly. He checked the data and found that the number of cases reported for fraud in Hong Kong has increased significantly year-on-year. Despite this, he believes that RWA combined with real assets has a certain significance, especially in the context of Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" policy and virtual currency compliance legislation in recent years, Hong Kong has attracted many crypto projects and international resources, becoming a gold rush. However, he pointed out that the current supervision is still opaque and the problem of fraud is prominent, but this is also the bonus period of the industry. As long as the supervision is not completely clear, the gray area provides profit space for practitioners. He suggested that if Hong Kong can lead the United States in formulating a clear regulatory framework, it will attract more funds from the West to the East, otherwise it may become a "trend chaser", and the policy may seem lively but the effect is limited. Big cousin emphasized his confidence in the development of the country's blockchain and believed that the Eastern power will become increasingly powerful in this field.

Alma agreed with the speech of the cousin, believing that he analyzed the chaos in the industry and raised real issues. She especially mentioned that Marco is a senior person who is a licensed RO in Hong Kong (license No. 149 and the first license No. 9), and wanted to know his views on the role and advantages of Hong Kong in the construction of RWA (real world assets) and Web 3, especially in promoting RWA and how to avoid the situation of "getting up early and catching up late".

Solowin Web 3 Partne Marco affirmed Hong Kong's promotion of RWA (real world assets) and Web 3 construction, and believed that although Hong Kong started slower than the United States in regulatory legislation, it has shown positive progress through the stablecoin licensing system. He pointed out that Hong Kong's goal is to tokenize traditional financial assets and improve transaction efficiency and smoothness through blockchain technology, especially issuing financial products in the primary market, cooperating with the development of stablecoins, opening up international market sales channels, and focusing on overseas rather than domestic markets. Based on the existing securities law framework, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has provided compliance support for tokenized financial products, and in the future it is expected to further open up international transactions of domestic assets through offshore RMB stablecoins. Marco emphasized that the RWA market needs to improve the primary market issuance first before the secondary market can gradually develop. Although issues such as regulation and liquidity still need time to be resolved, through tokenization, Hong Kong can achieve diversified sales of financial products and enhance global competitiveness.

Hong Kong's new stablecoin regulations and RWA track: building a new global payment infrastructure

In this issue of Space, the second theme was hosted by Tina from Golden Finance. Guests included Ellie, head of HashKey Chain BD, Liu Honglin, founder of Shanghai McQueen Law Firm, Marco, Solowin Web 3 Partner, Elma Yiyi from Dashu Finance, and Big Cousin. They had a heated discussion on "Stablecoin Track - Hong Kong's New Global Payment Infrastructure". The new Hong Kong stablecoin regulations are centered on 100% reserves and a clear licensing mechanism, which significantly improves regulatory clarity and attracts traditional financial institutions to enter the market. Ellie pointed out that the new regulations reduce regulatory uncertainty, enhance market trust, and help expand the cross-border payment, DeFi and RWA markets, but high compliance costs (25 million capital, localized operations) limit the participation of small and medium-sized institutions. Elma Yiyi emphasized that the global stablecoin transfer volume reached 4 trillion US dollars in Q2 2024. Hong Kong can use its financial hub advantages to attract banks and Internet companies, but in the short term it is constrained by market size and the dominance of US dollar stablecoins. Marco revealed that giants such as JD.com, Ant Financial, and Standard Chartered Bank have entered the regulatory sandbox, aiming at the $30-60 trillion B2B e-commerce payment track and challenging the traditional Swift system. Big Cousin is cautious and believes that trillion-level incremental funds are difficult to achieve in the short term. He recommends paying attention to Bitcoin and maintaining independent judgment.

RWA and stablecoins complement each other, compliance and ecological diversification are key

The new stablecoin regulations have accelerated the RWA track. The guests believe that the two complement each other and lay the foundation for Hong Kong's new global payment infrastructure. Yiyi Elma pointed out that stablecoins provide efficient settlement for RWA and shorten the financing cycle (such as the CNH stablecoin pilot of Bank of China Hong Kong has been reduced from 7 days to 4 hours). Goldman Sachs predicts that the growth of $1 billion in stablecoins will drive $320 million in RWA on the chain, and the market may reach $16 trillion in 2030. Ellie emphasized that RWA attracts over-the-counter funds, and the entry of institutions such as BlackRock has formed a snowball effect. Stablecoins reduce compliance costs and enhance transaction feasibility. Lawyer Liu Honglin warned that cross-border regulatory collaboration is the biggest challenge. The circulation of stablecoins on the public chain needs to respond to the law enforcement requirements of multiple countries, and asset freezing operations are complicated. Regarding the future leading factors, Big Cousin believes that the license is only a threshold, and Hong Kong needs to stand out in the global blockchain; Lawyer Liu Honglin advocates that differentiated profit models (such as JD.com B2B scenarios) are more critical; Ellie emphasizes that licensing competition gives first-mover advantages, and ecological diversification (such as on-chain/off-chain scenario expansion) determines profitability. Hong Kong needs to overcome technical and regulatory friction, leverage the advantages of “one country, two systems”, and create a new global financial ecosystem that integrates stablecoins and RWA.

Hong Kong takes advantage of Web 3 to create a new future for global finance

On the occasion of the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, this "Pearl of the Orient·Digital Chain Future" Space event gathered industry wisdom and deeply explored Hong Kong's global financial innovation potential in the stablecoin and RWA track. With the clear regulatory framework of the new stablecoin regulations and the unique advantages of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has attracted giants such as JD.com and Ant Financial to join the game, aiming at the trillion-level cross-border payment and asset tokenization market, challenging the financial landscape dominated by the US dollar. The guests agreed that stablecoins and RWA complement each other, injecting an efficient and transparent on-chain ecosystem into traditional finance, and promoting the internationalization of the RMB and global capital flows. However, high compliance costs, cross-border regulatory complexity and market cultivation cycles still need to be broken through. If Hong Kong can accelerate legislative innovation, improve infrastructure and expand diversified application scenarios, it will transform from a "wind chaser" to a "wind maker" in the Web 3 wave, lead a new chapter in the digital transformation of global finance with the brilliant light of the Pearl of the Orient, and write a magnificent blueprint for the future of digital chains.