Cyberport in Hong Kong attracted 150 Web3 firms in a year.

The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Paul Chan Mo-po, announced that over 150 Web3 firms have established operations in Cyberport, a digital hub established by the country’s government to promote innovation. This increase in activity is a result of the Hong Kong government investing 50 million yuan ($7 million) to facilitate the development of Web3 with blockchain as the underlying technology. Chan Mo-po also detailed the Hong Kong government’s investment in the sector, stating that Cyberport had been granted approximately 500 million Hong Kong dollars ($64 million) to fund the “Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme,” an initiative aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses implement digital solutions. Cyberport, which is managed by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, currently hosts a total of 1,900 enterprises.

The Hong Kong government recently introduced its own crypto legislation, which allows retail investors to invest directly in crypto assets and presents itself as pro-crypto. Since then, the country has continued to support the industry. In January, amidst the FTX crisis, the financial secretary stated that local government and regulators are looking forward to building a crypto and fintech ecosystem in 2023. On January 13th, Samsung, a Korean tech giant, announced the launch of a Bitcoin Futures Active exchange-traded fund on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

In mid-February, sources claimed that some Chinese officials were giving tacit approval to Hong Kong’s pro-crypto efforts. Local business operators stated that the Chinese government might even be open to using Hong Kong as a test bed for crypto as long as it doesn’t threaten the country’s financial stability. By March, more than 80 crypto firms had expressed interest in opening an office in Hong Kong.

Related: Hong Kong’s regulatory lead sets it up to be major crypto hub

Magazine: Web3 Gamer: Apple to fix gaming? SEC hates Metaverse, Logan Paul trolled on Steam