Dr. Xiao Feng Interprets Hong Kong Digital Asset Policy 2.0: Institutional Upgrade around LEAP Strategy, Compliance as the Ticket to the Future In order to gain a deeper understanding of the profound impact of this policy change on Hong Kong, PANews interviewed Dr. Xiao Feng, Chairman and CEO of @ HashKeyGroup. Dr. Xiao shared his unique insights on Policy Declaration 2.0 during the interview. Q1: How do you understand the "Hong Kong Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0"? What are the significant differences between it and the 2022 version? Xiao Feng: "Policy Declaration 2.0" is not a simple continuation, but an institutional upgrade. It revolves around the "LEAP" strategic architecture, systematically promoting compliance supervision, asset tokenization, scenario expansion, and talent development in four dimensions. This marks that Hong Kong is not only a "testing ground" for digital assets, but also beginning to evolve towards "institutionalization, scale, and globalization". The key changes lie in three aspects: 1. Stablecoins will be included in regulation: It is clear that the stablecoin licensing system will be officially implemented on August 1, 2025, which is one of the few jurisdictions in the world that truly gives stablecoins a "landing pass"; 2. RWA tokenization is considered a key industry: the government not only promotes the normalization of bond issuance, but also plans to include gold, green energy, electric vehicle assets, and other assets in the tokenization scope; 3. Tax exemption for tokenized ETFs and digital asset funds: If legislation is passed in the future, tokenized ETFs will enjoy the same stamp duty exemption and profit tax exemption as traditional ETFs, which is a rewriting of the rules of the financial market game. These reforms demonstrate a signal that Hong Kong is not just supporting Web3, but is using systems to make Web3 a part of financial infrastructure. At the regulatory policy level, the update of Hong Kong's Web3 policy has also completed the "three in one" institutional loop: 1. Regulatory certainty: Hong Kong will become the world's first jurisdiction to independently license digital asset custody services; 2. Asset penetration: allows real-world assets (metals, energy) to be tokenized on an equal footing with financial instruments (bonds, ETFs), breaking the boundaries between reality and virtuality; 3. Tax competitiveness: Token ETF tax exemption+digital asset fund profit tax exemption. This marks Hong Kong's official upgrade from a "regulatory testing ground" to a "RWA (Real World Assets) global issuance and circulation hub". Q2: Why has stablecoin become a policy priority? How does HashKey participate in this trend? Xiao Feng: Stablecoins are evolving from "instrumental currencies" to "infrastructure currencies". Recently, the US Treasury Secretary mentioned during the passage of the stablecoin bill in the Senate that by 2030, there will be $3.7 trillion to $3.9 trillion in stablecoins in circulation worldwide, which is an incremental market that exceeds the financial volume of most countries. The institutional design in Hong Kong is very clear, with rules such as statutory reserve management, redemption mechanism, and risk prudence requirements set for stablecoin issuers. It makes stablecoins no longer a "club agreement" between technicians, but a currency that can be accepted by banks, cross-border settlement systems, and the public sector, possessing both legal and technical attributes. HashKey will be deeply involved in three levels in the future: • Support the launch of globally compliant stablecoins on HashKey exchange, serving cross-border e-commerce and improving payment efficiency for global users; Pilot on chain stablecoin settlement through compliance platforms to optimize OTC and inter exchange clearing mechanisms; • Participate in the design of mapping combination products between stablecoins and RWAs, such as building on chain interest rate products through stablecoin anchored bonds, money market funds, etc. More questions 👇