It seems Hong Kong and Thailand share a common bond: cryptocurrency.
Greater Strength = Stronger Regulation
The two regions’ love of digital currency has caused them both to form a partnership over stricter regulation and trading tactics. Both regions’ regulatory agencies – the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) have each signed what’s known as a “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” to further collaborate on what should occur regarding cryptocurrencies in southern Asia. Both regions will now work on “innovation projects” based on blockchain technology.
Asia has proven to be one of the largest havens for cryptocurrencies, though the attitudes of individual nations have been somewhat mixed. On one hand, you have countries like Japan, which have utilized the services of the Financial Services Agency (FSA) to ensure crypto usage is well oriented and controlled. The nation has faced too many embarrassments between Mt. Gox and Coincheck, and it seeks to avoid any further hackings or related problems in the future.
China, on the other hand, has plenty of bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related business occurring, though much of it has either been limited or could potentially see limits in the future. For one thing, the country earns a fortune through bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining, though a new report suggests that such mining, given the potential hazards it presents to the environment, may be banned in the coming years.
At the same time, this is a threat that has been present within China for a long time, and it’s unclear if the nation ever officially plans to do something about it.
Lastly, you have areas like North and South Korea. At one time, the latter was the center for the most blockchain and cryptocurrency activity, with approximately one-quarter of the world’s crypto transactions occurring on South Korean soil. North Korea has repeatedly enforced ransomware attacks, crypto-jacking efforts and similar tactics on its neighbor to the south, hoping to get its hands on crypto that clearly doesn’t belong to it.
Innovative Blockchain Projects Are Coming
The HKMA released an official announcement regarding the partnership, which reads:
The signing of this MOU not only demonstrates our mutual interests in developing collaborative Fintech initiatives, but also underlines our ongoing efforts in cross-border collaboration between central banks in promoting innovation and enhancing experience-sharing. The HKMA looks forward to working together with BOT and seeing the positive outcome from our joint effort.
One of the big collaborative processes both organizations seek to engage in is the issuance of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Both organizations have already worked on this in the past. However, each one has separate information that they can share with the other to potentially enhance their knowledge and ideas of enforcing the right tactics and getting “better results.”