Tech
Tether co-founder Brock Pierce teases a possible return to Hong Kong and says China will open up to cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce, who co-founded stablecoin Tether in Hong Kong a decade ago, has teased that he is looking to return to work in the city for a third time as the government works to entice the cryptocurrency industry again .
Pierce, who is also president of the Bitcoin Foundation, has been coy about what his new venture would do or whether Hong Kong would be its permanent base of operations. He said the city was part of an “ongoing conversation.”
“Great things could come from this,” he told the South China Morning Post after the Solowin and Sequire Asia investor summit in Hong Kong on Wednesday. “I will go where I feel my time is most valuable. I’m excited about what’s happening in Hong Kong, which means I’m excited to work here, which means the likelihood of something happening is good right now.”
Pierce’s comments come shortly after several large cryptocurrency exchanges, most with ties to mainland China, ended their bids to become virtual asset trading platforms licensed in the city under regulations introduced last year by Securities and Futures Commission. The regulator said this week that exchanges licensed in Hong Kong should do so do not serve mainland residents, effectively nullifying what was seen as an important incentive to open shops locally. Hong Kong’s potential to serve as a gateway to mainland China’s sizable market, where cryptocurrency trading is strictly prohibited, has enticed many industry players. The idea has remained popular among cryptocurrency enthusiasts – and has been a hot topic at this year’s Bitcoin Asia conference – although the continent’s regulators have given no indication that they might make such an about-face.
However, Pierce said he is confident that will happen.
“Will China open up? [to crypto]? … I would say it’s inevitable,” she said. “It’s not so much a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
Pierce said he was encouraged by Hong Kong’s recent moves to provide regulatory certainty for investors. According to him, the city is moving in the right direction and well positioned in the region compared to Singapore, Japan and South Korea, which have all introduced their own cryptocurrency-specific policies. According to Pierce, trade finance (tradefi) remains a particularly strong opportunity for the city’s cryptocurrency market.
“I think Hong Kong is ahead in many ways,” he said. “I think the main opportunity in Hong Kong is in trading, and this is where a digital Hong Kong dollar stablecoin has huge potential.”
According to him, the reason for this is China’s supply chain advantage. “If you build the right system, there’s clearly a great opportunity that exists here,” he said.
As for the high costs of Hong Kong’s licensing regime and other factors that might dissuade companies from coming to the city, Pierce said he sees them as temporary obstacles, suggesting he hopes the policies will ease over time.
“Hong Kong is very well positioned, but it requires leadership,” he said. “I think Hong Kong has taken some of the first steps.”
Pierce has a long history in Hong Kong. The former child star, known for his roles in the films The Mighty Ducks and First Kid, has made his first foray into virtual currencies by selling those traded in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) through his internet start-up Gaming Entertainment. , which was based in Hong Kong. He sold another of his businesses, the video games the community building company Zam, founded in 2003, a Tencent Holdings in 2012.
The company behind Tether, the world’s most traded stablecoin, also originated in Hong Kong. Pierce became a co-founder after investing in a company involved in creating the stablecoin. Pierce sold his shares in 2015, leaving the company a year after it was founded.
Yet despite his professed love for Hong Kong, he has remained tight-lipped about the possibility that it could once again serve as a launching pad for whatever new projects he has in store.
“The third act is usually the most important in any great story,” Pierce said. “This is the third act; Let’s see what happens.”