According to Odaily Planet Daily, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun said in his opening speech at the "2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" that more than 220 Web3-related companies from more than 20 countries and regions including the mainland, Europe and the United States have set up offices in Hong Kong. These companies include virtual asset exchanges, blockchain infrastructure companies, blockchain network security companies, virtual currency wallets and payment companies.

The SAR government is working to strike a balance between promoting development and appropriate regulation, especially in the field of virtual assets. Wong Wai-lun said that the SAR government is amending relevant laws to bring over-the-counter (OTC) transactions of virtual assets under formal legal supervision, and plans to allow intermediaries to provide a range of qualified virtual asset services, including futures and exchange-traded funds (ETF) transactions.

He stressed that in the future, Hong Kong will continue to work with more players in the industry to provide in-depth insights, thereby bringing more possibilities to Hong Kong and promoting the development of the Web3 industry. Since the implementation of the new regulatory regime for virtual asset trading platforms in June last year, there have been two licensed virtual asset trading platforms that can provide virtual assets to retail investors. As of March this year, the SFC has received 24 license applications.