Hong Kong Startup News Roundup - 9 June 2019

BitMEX Ventures Back Filipino Crypto Exchange

BitMEX Ventures invested “an undisclosed amount of funding” into cryptocurrency exchange platform Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), according to a statement. PDAX plans to use the investment to expand the service capabilities of its platform to include trading of commodities, real estate equities, and debt securities in token form.

BitMEX co-founder and CEO Arthur Hayes said the company sees a substantial amount of trading volume from Filipino users. “We are confident in the transformative potential of cryptocurrency and PDAX’s ability to widen access to the Philippines market and provide the tools to learn more about financial markets,” Hayes said.

EY Releases First-ever Global SME FinTech Adoption Index

The EY FinTech Index is back for its 2019 edition and has taken a deep dive into SME fintech, building out the first ever SME FinTech Adoption Index. The survey interviewed 1000 organisations across 5 markets from the UK, US, South Africa, China and Mexico, via digital survey. 

Some notable results include: 

• China leads the way for SME Fintech adoption

• Global averages for FinTech adoption sit at 25% 

• In the UK and US, the most widely used services are online bookkeeping, payroll management, online billing and online payment processors. 

Access the full report here. 

HK, Singapore, Japan Associations Launch APAC RegTech Network 

The RegTech committees of the FinTech Associations of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan have jointly launched the ‘APAC RegTech Network’, an initiative to enhance cross-border collaboration on RegTech education and implementation across the Asia Pacific region. 

Under the initiative, the regtech committees of the FTAHK (Fintech Association of Hong Kong), SFA (Singapore Fintech Association) and FTJ (Fintech Association of Japan) will jointly convene regular meetings, and increase dialogue and information exchange to combat financial crime.

“There Will Be No ‘Next Silicon Valley’ There Will Be 30” 

The 2019 Global Startup Ecosystem report is now available for download. The report aims to enhance startup success by creating the first data driven science of ecosystem development. The report notes three major themes shaping the future for startup ecosystems: The Next 30, Deep Tech Rising,  and Unprecedented Wealthy and Continued Disparity. 

Hong Kong ranks #25 in the top 30 global startup ecosystems with Beijing competing with London to be in the top 3. Deep tech is growing more rapidly than any other startup sector with 45% of startups being created globally now in Deep-Tech sub-sectors. The report also comments on the high levels of wealth the startup economy has welcomed, and how it is not evenly distributed. 

A bold step towards the future of real estate in HK 

Family-owned property firm Stan Group signs an MOU with Hong Kong based FinTech startup Liquefy agreeing to work together on a blockchain initiative that aims to tokenize real Estate in the world’s priceless property market. 

The initiative is a bold step towards the future of real estate in Hong Kong, where there is better access and opportunity to create liquidity in the real estate market due to the fractional ownership that will be attained with tokenization.