At the start of Hong Kong FinTech Week, the city’s premier technology convention, the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau of Hong Kong released a statement on its policies regarding virtual assets. As part of suggested revisions to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong is now studying Hong Kong’s new VASP license framework. Additional requirements regarding the management business, the investment strategy, the disclosure, and investor education will apply to virtual asset futures. Only Bitcoin and Ether futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange will be used as the underlying assets. The SFC is drafting circular outlining specific modifications to the token security regime. For Hong Kong FinTech Week, the city is considering pilot projects on green bond tokenization and NFT issuance, and eHKD, the policy statement says.
A public policy analysis and insights manager for cryptocurrencies is being hired by Bank of America. The duties of the position would include drafting advocacy plans, researching proposals, and writing legislation. In recent years, the world’s largest bank has increased its involvement in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It joined Paxos’ blockchain-based settlement network and started to clear bitcoin futures last year.
A cryptocurrency wallet being considered by Visa would let users store and trade cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital and blockchain assets, as well as digital and virtual currency. PayPal already allows its users to buy Bitcoin, but the company is also building out its own crypto wallet. Several companies, including Ulta and Viking Cruises, have filed numerous crypto-related trademark applications in recent months. The management and maintenance of digital currencies and electronic wallets appear to be covered by Western Union’s filing. Western Union (WU) also proposes to develop “downloadable software for generating cryptographic keys for receiving and spending cryptocurrencies.” Just in October, companies as varied as musical instrument manufacturer Fender, food goliaths Del Monte and Kraft, and Formula One have filed Web3 and NFT documents. More than 6,300 U.S. trademark applications have been submitted so far this year for NFTs and associated products, as opposed to only 2,100 throughout all of 2021.
That’s it for today, see you tomorrow
