A Note from our Executive President: Energy, Evolution and Ecosystem
Hello friends of HashKey,
The main conference of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2022 (“HKFTW22”) concluded on Tuesday, November 1 2022 in what was the beginning of a string of high-profile international events in the city, which synchronised with Financial Secretary Paul Chan’s “Hong Kong is back in business” opening keynote speech at HKFTW22.
HashKey Group has returned once again as one of the major sponsors of the event, bringing to life a dynamic and kaleidoscopic exhibition booth that not only showcased its robust ecosystem of technology and product offerings, but also resonated with the virtual asset-dominated theme of this year’s conference. Here is a quick recap of HashKey Group’s key messages and highlights of HKFTW22:
Ecosystem
In order to promote the growth of the digital asset ecosystem, HashKey Group is helping to build the financial, technological and service infrastructure to facilitate the rapid growth, and contribute to the long-term development of the sector. From virtual asset trading to custody to Web3 infrastructure, HashKey Group’s business lines and end-to-end digital asset services were on full display at our booth. HashKey PRO is our virtual asset exchange that is soon to be licensed in Hong Kong, HashKey XPert is our brokerage service platform for professional and institutional investors, HashKey Capital is our asset management arm that has been investing in blockchain projects since 2015, HashQuark is a Top 10 staking-as-a-service provider by assets under management, HashKey Custody provides our clients with state-of-the-art encryption and private key protection, and HashKey DID, which was launched earlier this year, serves as a gateway that connects Web2 and Web3 to its decentralised blockchain-enabled solutions. The colour variation and fractal-inspired design of all our logos symbolise how HashKey Group strives to bring order to the complexities of digital assets.
Tokenisation
Tokenisation has long been a core strategic focus of HashKey Group, epitomised by the release of our “Liquidity, Data and the Far-Reaching Potential of Tokenisation” Whitepaper in 2021. The SFC has recognised the potential of tokenisation and recently communicated the Hong Kong government’s stance to treat security token offerings (“STOs”) using the same principles of existing financial instruments. This is a step in the right direction to making Hong Kong a model virtual asset hub. Removing any potential uncertainty about the recognition of smart contracts and token settlement layer technology on the regulatory level should serve as a green light for traditional financial firms that are looking to use Distributed Ledger Technology (“DLT”) to improve their current service offerings and streamline their operations. HashKey Group, upon receiving its full Hong Kong licences, will work closely with traditional financial services firms to bring further utility and enhanced application to the asset tokenisation sector and to improve the existing capital markets.
Web3
In line with the subject of tokenisation, HashKey Group’s new Web3 disclosure platform made its first appearance at our HKFTW22 exhibition booth. This platform, currently named Slate#, utilises on-chain data supplemented with off-chain data to track and monitor key metrics, in addition to analysing social media mentions and trends related to the topic. In the future, by using the platform, investors and regulators of tokens will not only have access to the companies’ typical annual reports or semi-annual updates, but they will also be able to track the projects on a real-time basis. More information and updates around Slate# will be announced soon.
Vital to the backbone of the Web3 infrastructure is the identification layer, in which HashKey DID intends to play a crucial role in terms of bolstering decentralised identification technology. At HKFTW22, we produced and minted 7 different credentials in the form of non-transferrable On-Chain Soul Token (“OST”) NFTs that represent each of HashKey Group’s business lines — attendees who collected these credentials can view them as Proof-of-Attendance Protocols that record their participation at HKFTW22. HashKey DID is built to showcase how credentialling and virtual identities can work in the Web3 world and eventually be used to screen candidate eligibility, analyse creditworthiness and facilitate KYC/AML authentications, to a name a few. If you missed out on our HKFTW OSTs, you can still collect them by creating your own HashKey Group decentralised identifier at https://www.hashkey.id/home.
Asset Management
As one of the earliest investors in, and backers of, Ethereum, HashKey Group has always understood the importance of community-building and has reaped the benefits of supporting promising early-stage projects. HashKey Capital, which has invested in over 500 projects, has recently been granted an uplift of its Type 9 asset management licence by the SFC, which allows it to manage a portfolio of entirely virtual assets. With this licence uplift, HashKey Group is now uniquely positioned to structure products that cater to different investor requirements, as well as to provide a conduit for various types of professional investors to gain access to this novel asset class.
If you were at our HKFTW22 booth on October 31 and November 1, we hope that by speaking to our amazing staff and by seeing our various service offerings on display, you could fully sense the vibrant and all-encompassing digital asset ecosystem that we are trying to build and in which we are playing a role. Moving forward, we are committed as always to continue playing our part in growing and fostering the burgeoning FinTech and virtual asset community in Hong Kong, as we also look forward to the city’s evolving Web3 innovation and development that lie ahead of us.
Michel
