At 3:53 pm on Thursday (23rd), Hong Kong law enforcement received a report from a man surnamed Zhang (36 years old), stating that he had met a suspicious man on social media who claimed to be a cryptocurrency investor. The suspect provided his electronic wallet account information to the man, and claimed that a buyer surnamed Liao (35 years old) would represent him in the transaction to purchase cryptocurrency through Zhang. The three parties went to a shop at No. 56 Junye Street, Kwun Tong, and first conducted a small amount of cryptocurrency transaction. After the man transferred the cryptocurrency to the suspect's electronic wallet, the suspect then transferred the money to Liao's electronic wallet to create the illusion of a reliable transaction. Afterwards, Liao handed over about HKD 2 million in cash to the man to buy cryptocurrency, but after the man deposited the cryptocurrency into the suspect's electronic wallet, he disappeared and Liao was unable to retrieve the funds. In the case, Liao lost about HKD 2 million, and Zhang did not receive a commission of about HKD 3,000. After investigation, law enforcement classified the case as "obtaining property by deception" and no one has been arrested yet. Law enforcement calls on citizens to use reliable intermediary platforms, understand the background and credibility of the trading partners, and use double verification on the trading platform before conducting cryptocurrency transactions.

Hong Kong police recently discovered that scammers were posing as investment experts and using high returns to attract citizens to invest in a virtual asset trading platform, ultimately unable to retrieve their funds. The police stated that the company involved is called HOUNAX and they have received 131 reports from victims, involving over HKD 110 million. Each case involves a scam amount ranging from HKD 12,000 to HKD 4 million.

On November 24th, Elizabeth Wong, the Director of Licensing and Head of Fintech at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, was asked on the Web3 Harbor podcast if Binance could obtain a license in Hong Kong after pleading guilty in the United States. She stated that without understanding how Binance would enter the market and its structure, it is currently uncertain. Wong was also asked if Binance would seek a license in Hong Kong under the leadership of new CEO Richard Teng, to which she replied that they are currently not on the list of virtual asset trading platforms applying for a license.

According to Jinse Finance, the Hong Kong High Court has tried a robbery case involving 3.5 million Hong Kong dollars of "Tether" USDT on November 23. It is reported that the victim surnamed Yin and her husband have been trading virtual currency "Tether" since 2018. They met the male buyer who is currently wanted in December 2020 and successfully completed 4 transactions of "Tether" buying and selling within a month, collecting a total of over 6.87 million yuan. However, they were robbed by masked robbers in a transaction worth 3.5 million yuan of "Tether". The special commission judge stated that this case was a precise plan, and all defendants had premeditated the crime and played different roles. They pretended to trade virtual currency with the victim first, and then robbed her when she was alone. The amount involved in the case, 3.5 million yuan, has not been recovered yet. The three criminals have been sentenced to 4 years and 8 months in prison each for robbery.

According to official sources, virtual bank ZA Bank in Hong Kong has announced that it has been approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to remove the conditions that applied to the first category (securities trading) of regulated activities when it originally registered for its license. This means that ZA Bank will not be limited to operating "Collective Investment Scheme (CIS)" businesses. Therefore, ZA Bank plans to launch US stock trading services to the public after completing service testing. ZA Bank users will be able to obtain more investment opportunities through the ZA Bank App, including buying and selling US stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and American depositary receipts (ADRs).

Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market jointly announced the exchange of a "Memorandum of Understanding" today (November 22) to strengthen their existing financial technology cooperation, especially in the areas of cross-border trade-related data exchange and business cooperation, further promoting the use of financial technology and data in the two markets to provide inclusive and innovative financial services.

Ashley Alder, CEO of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, said in an international interview that as the cryptocurrency system gradually develops to "a level we feel comfortable with," Hong Kong is "pleased to open up more channels to a wider range of investors." Meanwhile, Ravi Menon, governor of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told Bloomberg that by next year, Singapore will become one of the strictest countries in regulating cryptocurrencies in terms of consumer protection, but also one of the most convenient countries in regulating tokenization. Citigroup estimates that by 2030, the tokenization market could expand to $5 trillion, representing digital forms of real-world assets such as bonds, real estate, and private equity.

Former chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and chairman of Circle Coin Technology Group, Chen De-lin, pointed out that most stablecoins on the market are backed by US dollars. As Hong Kong is a financial center with virtual asset regulatory regulations, it is worth studying the launch of a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin. With the rapid development of Web 3.0 and digital payment applications globally, stablecoin smart contracts can support a large number of new transaction scenarios. However, the stablecoin market is currently dominated by US dollar assets such as USDT and USDC. Considering that the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar and Hong Kong is a financial center, it is not ideal to not promote a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin.

Liu Furong, member of the Hong Kong government's third-generation Internet (Web3.0) development task force and CEO and executive director of Yuchengco Gold, said in a recent interview that he hopes the task force can promote more Web3-related technologies, such as token trading between different blockchains and anti-counterfeiting authentication, to consolidate Hong Kong's position as an international financial center. Liu Furong also added that there is no clear profit model for Web3 companies in Hong Kong, and they are not making much money. The task force has not yet reached a consensus. Earlier this month, Yuchengco Gold announced a partnership with Chainlink Labs to develop cross-chain fund tokens.

Golden Finance reported that the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Christopher Hui, mentioned in his reply to the legislators that cross-border financial technology cooperation is crucial to promoting electronic payment interconnection between the two places. The Digital Currency Institute of the People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are conducting the second phase of technical tests on digital RMB for cross-border payments in Hong Kong, introducing more Hong Kong banks to participate and adding value to digital RMB wallets through Transfer Faster. Digital RMB provides one more safe, convenient, and innovative option for cross-border retail consumption for residents of the two places, enhancing the efficiency and user experience of cross-border payment services.