Edith Yeung Sees Big Things to Come for Crypto in Hong Kong

As co-founder and common associate of early-stage enterprise capital fund Race Capital, Edith Yeung has had a front-row seat to the event of the crypto sector, particularly in Hong Kong, the place she was born and raised. Most notably, she was a seed investor in Solana, Investing $250,000 when SOL was valued at just $0.04and was additionally an early investor in Lightning Community. Since 2017, Yeung can also be the creator of the China Internet Reportan influential annual survey of know-how developments in China.

Right here, Yeung, who will probably be a speaker at Consensus Hong Kong, discusses Hong Kong’s continued improvement as a crypto hub, her view on China’s stance on crypto, what she foresees for Solana, and one huge crypto prediction for 2025.

This sequence is dropped at you by Consensus Hong Kong. Come and expertise probably the most influential occasion in Web3 and Digital Belongings, from February 18 to twenty. Register today and save 15% with code CoinDesk15.

The interview has been condensed and flippantly edited for readability.

How do you see crypto regulation growing in Hong Kong in 2025? Do you assume extra crypto corporations will probably be licensed by the SFC in 2025?

It is thrilling to see that Hong Kong has now achieved that seven SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platforms. From an investor’s perspective, having a transparent licensing regime is a giant step ahead. Regulatory readability and predictability are like well-lit roads: they provide traders the boldness to drive on with out worrying about sudden detours.

That mentioned, licensing alone just isn’t sufficient. Liquidity is the opposite essential piece of the puzzle. Consider a buying and selling platform like a model new freeway: you possibly can have the smoothest sidewalk and the clearest indicators, but when there are not any vehicles on it, motorists will not be bothered. Likewise, irrespective of what number of licenses you might have, traders will probably be hesitant to get on board if there is no such thing as a energetic buying and selling and liquidity.

The important thing for Hong Kong now’s to construct not solely the infrastructure but additionally the site visitors move – as a result of an ideal platform with out liquidity is like an empty freeway that leads nowhere.

What function do you see Hong Kong growing when it comes to the crypto sector, particularly in relation to the US? What about Asia extra broadly?

Hong Kong is the New York of Asia. Change Sq. is actually Wall Road – a 24/7 monetary powerhouse, with towering skyscrapers and streets stuffed with merchants, traders and bankers with an vitality that by no means lets up. In case you are a crypto builder or investor, you’ll find many TradFi abilities (merchants, market makers, and so forth.) in Hong Kong.

To construct a profitable TradFi or DeFi enterprise, it is advisable to recruit particular forms of expertise that may be troublesome to search out even in Silicon Valley. Hong Kong boasts a wealthy monetary historical past, with the origins of the inventory market relationship again to 1866 – greater than 150 years – that means there’s a deep pool of skilled professionals who can drive innovation and progress in your enterprise.

What do you assume is distinctive about HK/Southeast Asia for crypto in comparison with the US and Europe?

The US is house to the most important crypto-addressable market when it comes to institutional traders, regulators and builders. However Asia harbors the best progress potential for the crypto market. By 2024, half of the top 10 countries in the world ranked by crypto adoption were in Asia.

With the brand new Trump administration, the US will proceed to cleared the path for crypto regulation and institutional adoption (e.g. BlackRock ETF). Asia will observe their lead with its huge person base that’s younger and crypto-native.

Do you typically view China as professional or anti-crypto? There was lots of crypto exercise there, however on the similar time the federal government is formally towards mining and hypothesis.

Hong Kong is a part of China. Seeing pro-crypto regulation slowly emerge in Hong Kong is a superb signal and indicator for China. That mentioned, China actually has a military of 220 million personal traders in its grasp $21 trillion in savings. Nonetheless, with an ongoing actual property disaster and a sluggish economic system, it is vitally troublesome to say when China will confide in crypto actions once more as the federal government focuses on these larger points.

You had been a seed investor in Solana; Do you continue to have your preliminary funding there? Do you assume Solana will proceed to draw as a lot memecoin exercise because it did in 2024?

Sure. I used to be honored to satisfy Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal in March 2018 and grow to be their seed investor. I’m a long-time Solana holder and supporter. What I like about them is their dedication to constructing and their help of the developer group. The developer vitality in 2024 Breakpoint Conference was excessive, not simply due to memecoins.

The Fire dancer group made big technical progress final 12 months, and I like that Anatoly remains to be on prime of individuals like Leap Buying and selling Chief Science Officer Kevin Bowers and his group each day. What’s much more thrilling to me is seeing conventional monetary gamers like Constancy, Citi and PayPal talking at Breakpoint about what they’re constructing on Solana. This inflow of established gamers not solely confirms Solana’s future, but additionally alerts that blockchain know-how is prepared for the lots.

What forms of corporations are you at the moment seeking to put money into and why?

I’m a seed investor in Huma Finance – a frontrunner in PayFi constructing on Solana and a frontrunner in stablecoin infrastructure. That was over in 2024 $2 billion in stablecoin transactions. At Race Capital we’ll proceed to deal with investing in web infrastructure. Builders who wish to work for the long run do not care if it is an up or down cycle.

What do you assume will occur in 2025 that can shock crypto individuals?

The institution of a US Bitcoin Reserve by the top of 2025. The US is at the moment the most important holder of Bitcoin, with roughly 207,189 bitcoins. This effort will probably be amplified by this huge stock, now valued at over $20 billion at present costs. This determination is predicted to ship bitcoin costs hovering, prompting different governments world wide to observe go well with.

What do you most wish to discuss on stage in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong’s function in constructing the crypto trade in 2025, China’s love-hate relationship with crypto, and maybe extra insights about Solana.