Hong Kong’s rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies and Web3 is a sign of some “big moves” happening in mainland China, a co-founder of the local game software firm Animoca believes.
The current crypto trend in Hong Kong is “not really just about” the city-state, but about wider China, despite mainland China banning crypto, according to Animoca co-founder Yat Siu.
Speaking at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) on July 19, Siu mentioned that China released its Web3 white paper in May, in which the government “basically indicated that Web3 is the future of the internet.” It should not be underestimated that the news came just a few days after Hong Kong officially announced plans to allow retail crypto investments, the exec stressed.
Although China’s Web3 white paper did not mention crypto, it’s still important that mainland China is putting out a budget toward progressing with Web3, Siu said.
He claimed that the news about Hong Kong’s crypto developments was ubiquitous in China, including in a notice on the national TV channel, China Central Television.
Animoca co-founder Yat Siu at EthCC 2023. Source: EthCC
“So every Chinese person basically in China got to see this,” Siu noted, adding:
“This is interesting because it’s not really just about what’s happening in Hong Kong. It’s really a message that’s coming from, you could say, high above. And Hong Kong wouldn’t do anything without the approval of China.”
In his keynote speech, Siu also argued that Web3 is a powerful tool to “push a new technology paradigm” away from the United States’ tech hegemony. He specifically referred to potentially detrimental security risks of nations’ dependence on tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook, stating:
“That’s actually another big agenda item, which is why Japan, Korea, China, all these places are pushing Web3 in a really big way because they see that as an opportunity to break away from basically U.S.-dominant technologies.”
Siu went on to say that challenging the U.S. hegemony is particularly important for places like China, which is focused on de-dollarization.
“It’s another reason why Web3 is being pushed in these places. Less dependency on the dollar. The dollar is, of course, as we know, the global currency of the world,” Siu stated.
With the news about Hong Kong proactively adopting crypto-friendly regulations, many crypto observers expressed hope that China could potentially lift its years-long ban on crypto.
However, several state-related executives, including CPIC Investment Management CEO Chenggang Zhou, have recently reiterated that China remains and will remain anti-crypto in the near future.
Global trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures may come to an end with a potential deal with China as investors remain concerned about escalation from both sides.
Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal import tariffs sent shockwaves through global equity and crypto markets. The measures include a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, effective April 5, with higher levies — such as a 34% tariff on Chinese imports — set to begin on April 9.
However, the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.
“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal,” Pal wrote in an April 8 X post, adding:
“That is the big prize and both China and the US understand it and need it. Everything else is negotiation posturing. China needs a weaker $ and the US needs tariffs.”
In response to US tariffs, China imposed a 34% tariff on all US imports effective April 10, media outlet Xinhua News reported on April 4. China’s foreign ministry also vowed to “fight till the end” against Trump’s tariffs, which it called “bullying” by the world’s largest economy.
China overtakes the US in global trade. Source: Econovis
China overtook the US in 2012 to become the world’s largest trading nation by the total value of exports and imports, surpassing $4 trillion in goods trade that year, according to The Guardian.
Crypto markets watch trade outcome closely
As the trade dispute continues to evolve, analysts say a potential agreement between the two global superpowers could serve as a key catalyst for recovery in digital asset markets.
Crypto markets have a 70% chance to bottom by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.
Investor appetite for risk assets such as Bitcoin will depend on the global tariff responses from other countries, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen.
“We have reached somewhat of a local bottom in regard to tariffs and the impact on prices,” the analyst said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:
“Trump came out guns blazing, and we’ve mostly seen the worst from the US side, so we’ll see if other countries are willing to drop some of the tariffs because it’s very likely the US will do the same.”
A Nigerian court has reportedly delayed the country’s tax evasion case against Binance until April 30 to give time for Nigeria’s tax authority to respond to a request from the crypto exchange.
Reuters reported on April 7 that a lawyer for Binance, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, asked a court the same day to invalidate an order allowing for court documents to be served to the company via email.
Binance doesn’t have an office in Nigeria and Ikwuazom claimed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) didn’t get court permission to serve court documents to Binance outside the country.
“On the whole the order for the substituted service as granted by the court on February 11, 2025 on Binance who is … registered under the laws of Cayman Islands and resident in Cayman Islands is improper and should be set aside,” he said.
FIRS sued Binance in February, claiming the exchange owed $2 billion in back taxes and should be made to pay $79.5 billion for damages to the local economy as its its operations allegedly destabilized the country’s currency, the naira, which Binance denies.
It also reportedly alleged that Binance is liable to pay corporate income tax in Nigeria, as it has a “significant economic presence” there, with FIRS requesting a court order for the exchange to pay income taxes for 2022 and 2023, plus a 10% annual penalty on unpaid amounts along with a nearly a 27% interest rate on the unpaid taxes.
Nigeria’s legal history with Binance
In February 2024, Nigeria arrested and detained Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla on tax fraud and money laundering charges. The country dropped the tax charges against both in June and the remaining charge against Gambaryan in October.
Tigran Gambaryan (right) was seen in a September video struggling to walk into a courtroom in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. Source: X
Anjarwalla managed to slip his guards and escape Nigerian custody to Kenya in March last year and is apparently still at large.
Gambaryan, a US citizen, returned home in October after reports suggested his health had deteriorated during his detainment with reported cases of pneumonia, malaria and a herniated spinal disc that may need surgery.
Binance stopped its naira currency deposits and withdrawals in March 2024, effectively leaving the Nigerian market.
It’s the final episode before recess so Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy wonder, given the turbulent times, who’ll be the first to call for Parliament to be recalled?
And talking of the Lib Dems, there’s some new polling which might put a spring into the step of Ed Davey – is his party’s position on Trump and trade doing them some favours?
Of course, there’s plenty of time to talk about the onslaught of US tariffs and implications for the UK – watch out for if the PM is asked about fiscal headroom when he appears before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs later.
Sam and Anne also ponder the PM’s response to Sam at a Q&A yesterday.