HONG KONG, November 3, 2025 — The 10th‑anniversary edition of Hong Kong FinTech Week (HKFTW) kicked off today alongside the StartmeupHK Festival, merging two flagship events into a single, city‑wide platform from 3–7 November. Organisers expect more than 37,000 participants from over 100 economies, featuring 800+ speakers and 700 exhibitors, underscoring Hong Kong’s bid to reassert itself as a global fintech hub.
Beyond the opening‑day fanfare, the combined event is designed as a week‑long marketplace for policy announcements, product launches and cross‑border partnerships. On day one, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said it will allow locally‑licensed virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) to share global order books with overseas affiliates—an important shift intended to deepen liquidity and align Hong Kong more closely with international market plumbing. The easing responds to feedback from exchanges and market‑makers that siloed order books constrain price discovery and institutional participation.
Strategic vision: Fintech 2030
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) unveiled a forward‑looking ‘Fintech 2030’ strategy at HKFTW, signalling policy continuity beyond the current regulatory cycle. While detailed workstreams will roll out over time, the strategy orients Hong Kong around three pillars: accelerating digital‑asset market infrastructure and tokenisation; mainstreaming AI‑driven finance and regtech; and scaling cross‑border rails across the Greater Bay Area and global centres. HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue framed the plan as a blueprint to keep Hong Kong “competitive, open and connected” as finance becomes increasingly programmable.
Last week, the HKMA published findings from Phase 2 of its e‑HKD Pilot Programme, consolidating 11 pilots that tested use‑cases in settlement of tokenised assets, programmability and offline payments. A key insight is the convergence—at least in users’ minds—between retail e‑HKD and tokenised bank deposits, given high public trust in Hong Kong’s banking system. In parallel, banks reported operational benefits from tokenised workflows, particularly in fund‑settlement and SME cash‑flow management. The HKMA will continue policy, legal and technical preparatory work into 2026, keeping optionality for a future retail e‑HKD while encouraging industry adoption of common token standards.
Regulatory balance and market structure
This year’s HKFTW also arrives amid a broader reset of Hong Kong’s capital‑market architecture. Earlier in the year, authorities outlined a ‘technology enterprises channel’ to fast‑track listings for high‑growth tech and biotech firms, and encouraged banks and sponsors to clear bottlenecks in IPO pipelines. The virtual‑asset regime is evolving in parallel, with rules on stablecoins under consultation and an emphasis on risk‑appropriate access to derivatives and margin‑based products for professional investors. Taken together with today’s order‑book decision, the policy direction points to tighter alignment with global liquidity while maintaining guardrails for retail protection.
Hong Kong continues to stitch together cross‑boundary rails. The Payment Connect linkage between the Mainland’s Internet Banking Payment System and Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System, launched in June, has enabled real‑time, low‑value payments for travel, retail and dining across the boundary—useful context for the week’s many GBA‑themed forums. Delegations from Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East are also present, reflecting Hong Kong’s pitch as a connector market for capital, technology and corporate adoption.
Themes to watch through the week
- Tokenisation moves from pilots to production: Banks and market infrastructures will showcase live implementations for funds, bonds and private‑market assets, with growing institutional workflow integration.
- AI and ‘smart processing’: From super‑apps to compliance analytics, AI‑enabled data pipelines are becoming core to customer‑journeys and risk management.
- Green and transition finance: ESG‑tech and data providers are targeting disclosure automation and financed‑emissions tracking, aligning with Asia’s transition‑focused capital raising.
- Inclusive finance: Several forums address SME credit access, low‑cost remittances and financial‑health solutions, tapping Hong Kong’s role as a regional treasury hub.
For founders, the order‑book liberalisation could expand addressable liquidity and market‑making depth for compliant exchanges, potentially improving price discovery for listed tokens and tokenised assets. For banks and asset managers, the e‑HKD/tokenised deposit roadmap and common token standards suggest a pragmatic path to digitised money without disrupting balance‑sheet economics. For issuers eyeing Hong Kong listings, the technology channel and a friendlier deal‑making environment may help accelerate timetables, especially for Mainland‑linked tech.
With policy signals on virtual assets, a decade‑long vision for fintech, and real‑world progress on digital money, Hong Kong is using its marquee event to reinforce a message: the city aims to be an interoperable, regulated and globally connected hub for the next wave of programmable finance. The rest of the week will likely bring more pilots, partnerships and proofs‑of‑concept turning into production—and more clarity on how Hong Kong will balance openness with oversight.