Hong Kong lawmaker follows Trump in Bitcoin reserve proposal – DL News

A Hong Kong politician has followed Donald Trump’s lead and proposed that the city should start storing cryptocurrencies.

Executive Council Legislator Johnny Ng tweeted on July 28 that Hong Kong should take the step after the former US president said he would create a national Bitcoin stockpile if re-elected.

“Global adoption of Bitcoin is steadily increasing,” Ng wrote. “In the future, it is indeed possible to explore Bitcoin and consider including it in strategic financial reserves, as long as it is compliant.”

Ng’s suggestion that the special administrative region should follow the lead of the 70-year-old presidential candidate would not be unusual for Hong Kong.

While the city is not averse to forging its own path in the crypto world, it has also built a reputation for following the lead of American politicians.

Trump’s proposal

Trump’s idea to create a U.S. Bitcoin stockpile has gained support from Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who plans to introduce a bill to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Lummis expects the US to hold at least 1 million Bitcoins, or 5% of the global supply, for at least 20 years.

According to crypto data platform Arkham, the US government owns over 213,000 Bitcoins, worth more than $14 billion.

Hong-Kong

Hong Kong has charted its own course in cryptocurrencies, one that deviates from the strict regulations of mainland China.

The city is positioning itself as a web3 hub and has already launched several crypto-related financial products.

Yet the country has a history of following the US lead.

For example, it approved a number of Bitcoin spot ETFs in April, just months after U.S. regulators did the same in January.

It went one step further by approving three spot Ethereum ETFs.

On July 23, Hong Kong-based CSOP Asset Management launched a Bitcoin “inverse” ETF, allowing retail investors to short Bitcoin.

Hong Kong has also introduced a new licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges.

The law came into effect in early June and requires exchanges operating in Hong Kong to either be licensed or in the process of applying for one.

However, in the run-up to the deadline, major exchanges such as OKX, Gate.HK and Bybit withdrew their applications.

Callan Quinn is an Asia correspondent for DL ​​News. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected].