Mapping Out Hong Kong's Blockchain Ecosystem

Hong Kong is well known for its adaption to innovation and is one of the most financially advanced nations. Hong Kong’s Web3 industry has been showing continuous growth despite the regulatory pressure from mainland China, especially in entertainment, brokerage, and financial services.

Based on The Block’s research, Hong Kong’s Web3 ecosystem mostly comprises NFT-related businesses, which reflect 28.29% of the total entities. More specifically, 27.9% of the NFT-related businesses are VR/Metaverse companies that prioritize building a metaverse or VR ecosystem. This is followed by gaming and NFT marketplace companies, each comprising 13.95% of the NFT ecosystem. This distribution within the NFT industry presents a distinct pattern when compared to neighboring East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, where gaming companies hold the majority share. One plausible explanation for this phenomenon could be attributed to the concept of 版号 or gaming licenses issued by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In China, no game can be launched to the public without explicit permission from the government, and given the technical ban on cryptocurrencies in China, this regulatory landscape likely influences the composition of the NFT/Gaming industry in Hong Kong.