Hong Kong court rules cryptocurrencies as property as the city pushes for web 3...

Hong Kong court rules cryptocurrencies as property as the city pushes for web 3 innovations

Hong Kong court rules cryptocurrencies as property as the city pushes for web 3 innovations

18 hours ago

A court based in Hong Kong has acknowledged cryptocurrencies assets, as the city takes steps to attract crypto firms in an effort to become a regional hub.

In a liquidation case involving the now-defunct Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin, Judge Linda Chan decided on March 31 that cryptocurrency constitutes property that can be placed into a trust.

The case involves Gatecoin, a cryptocurrency exchange with headquarters in Hong Kong that experienced a cyberattack in 2016 and lost almost $2 million in digital assets. The exchange declared in March 2019 that a Hong Kong court has issued a mandatory liquidation order for it.

The decision is the first time the Hong Kong High Court has completely acknowledged crypto assets as property.

In an analysis of the ruling published by the law firm Hogan Lovells, it said that the latest judgement may potentially provide insolvency practitioners in Hong Kong with more certainty about digital assets. Hong Kong joins other jurisdictions by confirming that bitcoin is property, much like other assets like stocks.

The "one country, two systems" agreement gave rise to Hong Kong's aspirations to develop into a crypto hub, and Beijing officials finally gave their blessing to those efforts for the first time last week.

Despite the ongoing crypto winter, which has affected many businesses in the greater Web3 space, Hong Kong has suggested a number of measures to grow the virtual assets sector and promote the city as a global cryptocurrency powerhouse.

The actions include millions of dollars of funding to assist the development of the Web 3 ecosystem, tokenizing green bonds, establishing a new licensing framework for virtual asset providers, and enabling cryptocurrency trading by retail investors.

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