In Brief:
- One-fourth of Hong Kong adults plan to invest in crypto assets.
- 81% of the respondents prefer to hold Bitcoin over other crypto assets.
- Researchers said the JPEX scandal in 2023 negatively impacted crypto appeal in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong now sees an uptick in the number of people willing to invest in crypto assets following the JPEX HK$1.3b scandal in 2023.
A recent survey conducted by researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology found that one out of every four adults in Hong Kong now intends to hold crypto assets in the future.
The researcher polled 5,863 Hong Kong adults over three weeks in November 2024, according to the city’s biggest circulation English daily newspaper, The Standard.
The number of persons interested in holding crypto represents a 6% increase from an earlier survey conducted in 2023. The latest survey also found that 20% of the respondents were more willing to use and deposit money on crypto exchanges if they were regulated.
Most of them, or 81% of the respondents, prefer to hold Bitcoin over other crypto assets, per the report. They seem unfamiliar with other crypto concepts, such as Central Bank Digital Currency, e-HKD, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits.
The researchers are of the view that the “incident’s negative impact has faded” following the increase in number of Hong Kong adults interested in crypto.
JPEX’s HK$1.6b scandal drains crypto interest in Hong Kong
In 2023, interest in digital assets took a hit in Hong Kong following a crypto fraud scandal involving crypto trading platform JPEX. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said the Dubai-based platform operated in the city without a license for virtual asset trading.
Hong Kong authorities started an investigation into JPEX after users complained of losing HK$1.6 billion ($205m). The police said JPEX promised investors high yield using influencers and giant billboard adverts on Hong Kong’s MTR train system.
As of April 2024, some 70 individuals in connection with the case were arrested, with about HK$228 million (US$29.3m) in assets frozen, according to South China Morning Post.
