tl;dr
Dr. Xiao Feng, Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group and known as The Father of China’s Blockchain, warns that cryptocurrency enthusiasm in Asia's emerging markets surpasses current regulatory frameworks. He stresses that stablecoins are reshaping global financial infrastructure beyond simple payment to...
Dr. Xiao Feng, Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group and often hailed as The Father of China’s Blockchain, cautions that the current cryptocurrency enthusiasm in Asia’s emerging markets vastly outpaces the regulatory framework in place. He emphasizes that stablecoins are not merely payment instruments but are redefining the very essence of global financial infrastructure.
In an insightful discussion, Dr. Xiao highlights the disparity between the vibrant market interest in stablecoins in Hong Kong and the regulatory prudence exercised by local authorities. He notes Mainland China’s cautious re-entry into the crypto space, beginning with stablecoins, driven by intensifying global monetary competition and projecting a future roadmap toward Real World Assets (RWA) and possibly Bitcoin adoption.
Addressing common misconceptions, Dr. Xiao clarifies that stablecoins primarily serve as trading mediums amid volatile cryptocurrencies rather than straightforward payment tools. He broadens the perspective on blockchain, describing it as an innovative accounting method enabling peer-to-peer, real-time settlements that enhance efficiency and reduce costs, thus positioning blockchain as a revolutionary financial infrastructure.
Compliance emerges as a pivotal theme, with Hong Kong’s regulators emphasizing stringent Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures to safeguard the city’s financial standing. Dr. Xiao points to the transparency benefits of on-chain transaction tracing as a potential superiority over traditional AML systems, while advocating that successful stablecoins must operate on permissionless public blockchains to achieve wide adoption.
Dr. Xiao envisions a significant market transformation, transitioning from digital-native to digital-twin assets, marked by the growing prominence of regulated onshore exchanges as essential for unlocking immense market value. He positions Hong Kong as a strategic global financial hub—leveraging its common law system and unique geopolitical status—poised to become the “Wall Street of Asia,” contrasting with Singapore’s role as the “Switzerland of Asia.”
Finally, Dr. Xiao advocates for a layered industry model combining a decentralized and permissionless base protocol layer with a centralized application layer. He argues this duality balances fairness, openness, efficiency, and consumer protection, embodying the necessary collaboration between decentralization and centralization within the burgeoning crypto ecosystem.