Flagship crypto summit opens doors

Staff reporter

Consensus, the global flagship cryptocurrency and Web3 event, makes its debut today in Hong Kong expecting to attract over 8,000 participants.

Company founders,chief executives, industry experts and more will gather at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for the three-day event, which is being held outside of the United States for the first time in over five years.

Among the 8,000 participants expected at Consensus Hong Kong 2025, as many as 6,000 will come from all over the world.

Consensus is one of the world's largest and most influential gatherings of the global Blockchain, Web3 and AI communities.

The debut indicates the organizer CoinDesk's recognition of Hong Kong's efforts in boosting finance technology development in recent years, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said in a post on its social media account.

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu will today address the Institutional Summit designated for over 200 participants at the event.

Hui will also introduce industry leaders to enhancements in Hong Kong's regulatory regime for safeguarding investors, and urge them to make good use of Hong Kong's unique advantages to set up or expand their businesses in the city.

Hong Kong has been striving to develop itself as an international fintech hub. The government, for example, has introduced a licensing regime for virtual asset service providers by amending the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance and submitted the Stablecoins Bill to the Legislative Council at the end of last year.

The bureau revealed in its post that the first "tokenized injunction order" through blockchain technology granted by the Hong Kong High Court earlier set a legal precedent in the virtual asset sector.

Upon the ruling targeting two virtual asset wallet addresses linked to suspected fraud, anyone who intends to perform transactions with the wallets concerned will notice the injunction order stored on that particular blockchain.

The use of innovative technologies to handle legal matters, the FSTB said, can enhance the city's ability to safeguard participants in the virtual asset market. To seize opportunities in the Web3 era, it said said the government will continue to stick to the principle of "same activity, same risks, same regulation" in building a more comprehensive legal and regulatory framework in Hong Kong.

Consensus Hong Kong 2025 runs until Thursday.