A lawmaker is steering the city’s crypto narrative away from zero-sum politics and toward connectivity. He argues the city can serve as connective tissue between jurisdictions that rarely move in sync. As regulators in Washington, Beijing and Asia chart their paths, the legislator for the technology sector says his focus is structural: linking rulebooks and crypto-native innovation. He says crypto and Web3 are linked to finance. Over the past two years, he pushed stablecoin legislation and backed exchange licensing, positioning the jurisdiction as an early mover in regulated crypto finance.
Common law and open capital as the operating system
He says the bridge starts with the city’s existing strengths: common law, English-language courts, and free capital flows. He believes this legal and financial foundation lets the market build a crypto hub that is safe and secure. He points to the dense concentration of global banks, asset managers, lawyers, and auditors as a ready-made trust layer for regulated crypto finance. In his framing, the jurisdiction does not need to win by outmuscling other hubs; it needs to package credibility so new products can plug into familiar institutional rails at scale.
I hereby offer an invitation to welcome all global virtual asset trading operators including @coinbase to come to HK for application of official trading platforms and further development plans. Please feel free to approach me and I am happy to provide any assistance. pic.twitter.com/bcIi1IjMlc
— Johnny Ng 吴杰庄 (@Johnny_nkc) June 10, 2023
That connector role, he argues, strengthens when viewed through the Greater Bay Area, which links the jurisdiction with hubs like Shenzhen and Macau. His point is that the city should connect to mainland scale rather than copy its engineering culture. Mainland cities bring manufacturing depth, a young technical workforce, and product velocity; he notes Shenzhen’s average age is under 30. The jurisdiction contributes capital, global market access, and common-law structure, then turns ideas into products via that human capital. He cites Guangzhou and Zhuhai as part of the same belt.
From coordination diplomacy to regulatory plumbing
That bridge-building mindset also shapes how he reads global crypto politics. In 2023, during aggressive U.S. enforcement actions, he publicly invited Coinbase and other exchanges to consider the city. He now frames that outreach as coordination, arguing crypto cannot be neatly divided by country or economy. Rather than rivalry, he wants the local government to make more connections with other jurisdictions and governing bodies. In his view, clearer standards and predictability would let crypto link more cleanly with real-world economic activity and institutions, and keep East-West capital flows aligned consistently.
With a new legislative session beginning after the fall election, he says the next phase is plumbing. He expects custody and OTC regulations this year, plus potential changes that enable higher-volume trading for professional investors. He also sees convergence from artificial intelligence, arguing the city can work with both Western and Chinese datasets and host AI firms that collaborate. The bet, he says, is not to outbuild other hubs, but to stay open, regulated, and connected so the jurisdiction sits at the center of a system still under construction globally.