Hong Kong accelerator looking to help 1,000 web3 startups in next 3 years

A start-up accelerator co-founded by Legislative Council of Hong Kong member Johnny Ng Kit-chong is looking to help 1,000 web3 startups set up shop in the city within the next three years.

G-Rocket's new initiative, "Hong Kong Web3.0 Hub," coincides with the special administrative region's concerted push to put itself among the leaders in the virtual asset industry.

150 start-ups — primarily founded by Chinese entrepreneurs based elsewhere — have signed up for the accelerator's new program, G-Rocket's co-founder and CEO, Casper Wong, told the South China Morning Post earlier this week.

G-Rocket's program helps web3 startups obtain office space, banking — through virtual bank ZA Bank — and government resources.

G-Rocket is a subsidiary of Ng's venture capital firm, Goldford Group.

Hong Kong pushing into crypto

Crypto-related news out of Hong Kong has been frequent in recent weeks.

CSOP Asset Management, a China Southern Asset Management subsidiary, listed the first bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange a week ago. 

Earlier this month, Hong Kong passed a law introducing a licensing regime for virtual asset service providers. The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Bill 2022 applied traditional customer due diligence and record-keeping requirements to VASPs when conducting certain transactions.

Additionally, Switzerland-headquartered Seba Bank expanded into Hong Kong with a new office late last month.