Hong Kong has unveiled the Hong Kong Virtual Asset Listing Association (HKVALA), an industry body formed to accelerate the city’s push into digital finance.
The founding conference, held on 27 August 2025 in West Kowloon, brought together nearly 50 institutions, including listed companies, trading platforms, licensed financial groups, and blockchain solution providers.
Source: 10jqka.com.cn
Senior officials from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Legislative Council attended, alongside fintech leaders and academics.
HKVALA Chairman Zhang Huachen described the association as a platform to “pool the strengths of different industry participants” and strengthen cooperation across finance and technology.
He added that the group would place emphasis on cultivating talent, pledging to work with universities and research centres to nurture professionals for the sector’s next phase of growth.
The launch of HKVALA follows the government’s release of Policy Statement 2.0 on the Development of Digital Assets and the enforcement of the Stablecoin Ordinance earlier this year.
The policy introduces the “LEAP” framework—short for legal and regulatory streamlining, expanding tokenised products, advancing real-world use cases, and developing people and partnerships.
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Joseph Chan Ho-lim highlighted Hong Kong’s intention to keep pace with the fast-moving sector.
He pointed to recent examples, including the issuance of tokenised green bonds and the release of the city’s first government-backed NFT, as signs of the administration’s proactive stance.
Investor protection was a central theme throughout the conference.
Julia Leung, CEO of the SFC, stressed the importance of creating a “safe and vibrant” ecosystem for digital assets, while Legislative Council member Johnny Ng Kit-chong urged the new body to champion investor education, citing past scams that have caught inexperienced participants off guard.
To that end, the association issued a development declaration at its launch, calling for self-discipline across members and urging peers to avoid “excessive hype and speculation” in the market.
The goal, according to organisers, is to create a transparent and sustainable digital finance ecosystem capable of supporting institutional participation.
Founding members include a mix of digital asset firms and traditional finance players.
OSL Group and HKE Holdings represent the trading sector, while China Renaissance Holdings—already active with a $100 million investment in Binance Coin—adds to the line-up of financial institutions.
The roster also spans mainland Chinese companies and US-listed firms, reflecting the cross-border scope of the initiative.
Notably, Kong Jianping, founder of Nano Labs, was named honorary president of the association, signalling the group’s commitment to bringing together leaders from both technology and finance.
Coinlive believes the launch of HKVALA is both timely and ambitious, but questions remain about its ability to deliver measurable results.
The city has issued several policy statements over the past two years, yet translating declarations into meaningful adoption has proven difficult.
While investor education and regulatory clarity are steps in the right direction, the challenge lies in balancing innovation with compliance without stifling progress.
If HKVALA evolves into more than a symbolic alliance and genuinely drives collaboration between global finance and Web3, Hong Kong could solidify its status as a serious digital asset hub.
But if it leans too heavily on rhetoric without tangible outcomes, the city risks losing momentum to rivals who are already pushing forward with real-world tokenisation at scale.
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