Speaking at the Greenwich Economic Forum this week, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission chief executive Leung Fung-yee said that Bitcoin has clearly demonstrated its viability as an alternative asset. Liang Fengyi pointed out that although most central bankers and economists would believe that virtual assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum do not have any intrinsic value, Liang Fengyi said that he does not object to such a view, but it is undeniable that Bitcoin has grown rapidly over the past 15 years. Already demonstrating resilience as an alternative asset:

“I don’t disagree with that either. But over the past 15 years, Bitcoin has been through a lot of booms and busts and it’s still around. So as an alternative asset, it actually has staying power.”

However, Leung also stressed in her speech that regulators’ support for Hong Kong’s Web3 ecosystem should not be seen as an endorsement of the virtual asset class. She added:

“We are not endorsing or promoting the virtual asset category, but for those who are knowledgeable enough and want to be exposed to virtual assets, we provide a channel, and all these transactions are licensed and regulated, and can be carried out in the stock market. Trading, being liquid, is much better than trading on some unregulated overseas platform.”

In addition, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission is also working hard to regulate stablecoins. Liang Fengyi revealed that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission is preparing a new system to supervise stablecoins linked to legal currencies. Recently, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has completed a consultation on the proposed regime, including requiring stablecoin issuers to ensure that they are fully backed by high-quality and highly liquid reserve assets.

This article SFC Leung: Bitcoin has shown its staying power as an alternative asset appeared first on Zombit.