Hong Kong again proves that he wants to play the first violin of the technological revolution (including the financial). China Financial Leasing Group has announced the issue of shares worth 86.7 million HKD (USD 11.1 million), which will finance the construction of an investment platform connecting cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence. An interesting move, especially since it comes from the region, where BTC is officially persona non grata.
China Financial Leasing – Emission of shares and capital for a new era
In a Sunday application to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the company revealed the details of the transaction: 69.38 million new shares will go to Innoval Capital at a price of 1.25 HKD per item. This is 20% of the current share capital and 16.7% after expanding the stock base. Not bad for starting in digital assets.
The funds obtained are to be used to create a Crypto-Ai platform, which will invest in a wide range of projects from the Blockchain ecosystem. The list is impressive:
- cryptocurrency exchange,
- Stablecoin,
- Bitcoin,
- Ethereum,
- Real-Corld Assets (RWA),
- NFT,
- DEFI
- Decentralized physical infrastructure (depine).
Ambitiously? Definitely.
Who is standing behind the Innoval Capital?
Innoval Capital is a company from the British Virgin Islands, founded by Moore Xin Jina – CEO Antalph. Jin is a character from the first pages of digital finances, managing the Antalph Platform Holding Company assets with a value exceeding USD 1.6 billion. One could say – not just anyone, not just anywhere.
China Financial Leasing does not hide that the movement is part of the Hong Kong government policy of June 2024, aimed at making the city a global cryptocurrency center. The company plans to transform into a “innovative holding group of investments in digital assets”, using both blockchain and artificial intelligence.
The market reacts: +25% in one day
The company’s shares soared up to 25% on Monday afternoon just after the announcement. At 14:00 local time, the market capitalization of China Financial Leasing was about 555 million HKD (USD 71.3 million), according to Yahoo Finance. Investors apparently like what they see. The combination of cryptocurrencies, modern technologies and AI is a stick to investors;)
This emission and return towards digital assets are shown by the growing appetite of Hong Konno companies to use the regulatory support of the city for Web3 initiatives. Hong Kong realistically puts himself in the position of the Asian leader of Blockchain and you can see that local companies want to participate in it.
China and Krypto: complicated relationships
Now beware of the paradox: China officially banned cryptocurrencies, but … they are still interested in them. What’s more, the Middle Kingdom is a global power in the field of artificial intelligence. Giants like Minimax, Bytedance or Klingi show that the AI Chinese ecosystem is second to none in terms of innovation and scale. The combination of AI with blockchain is a natural next technological limit and China understand this perfectly, even if they officially keep the cryptocurrencies at a distance.
In practice, this means that while in Shanghai or Beijing, digging Bitcoin is illegal, Hong Kong (as a special administrative region) can afford a completely different game. This is a geographical and legal gap that Chinese companies and capital willingly use. How does this affect the global cryptocurrency and AI technology market? Very strongly, which is a great example of the Stargate project, which is to be a clear US signal, that in AI technology, Uncle Sam is a male a (i) lfa.
Beijing inhibits? RWA under the magnifier of the regulator
But not all gold that shines. Last month, the Chinese securities regulator (CSRC) unofficially ordered several large brokerage houses to stop the Real-Scorld Assets toxyization projects in Hong Kong. Reason? Fears of risk management and speculation, as reported by Reuters.
CSRC has not issued a public order, but apparently checks whether these offers have solid business foundations. This is an interesting moment – Hong Kong is actively promoting as a hub of digital assets, launching bond toketenization programs, a legal framework for stablecoin and welcoming dozens of virtual assets platforms. The recent loud GF Securities and China Merchants Bank International projects show the pace of the region’s development, despite the caution of continental China.
Hong Konne regulators, including Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), continue working on the policy of toxization RWA. Investors’ interest is enormous: 77 companies have submitted applications for licenses, and the shares of companies such as Guotai Junan International and Fosun International recorded massive increases related to expansion in crypto.
Hong Kong plays hard, Beijing looks
China Financial Leasing Group enters digital assets when Hong Kong tries to define herself again as a bridge between regulated traditional markets and a chaotic, but fascinating world of Web3. China can officially speak “not” cryptocurrencies, but their capital, talents and ambitions in AI show that the Middle Kingdom does not intend to be behind.
Will the Crypto-Ai China Financial Leasing platform succeed? We will find out soon. The combination of Chinese power in AI with Hong Congan regulatory pragmatism can create something really interesting. And somewhat disturbing for the competition from the West.
