Original author: Zhou Zhou, Foresight News 
In 2025, the sense of rift in Hong Kong's cryptocurrency circle became increasingly apparent.
"Traditional financial institutions come to us every day to discuss Crypto business. We are also trying to promote new business on platforms such as YouTube and X, and looking for influential KOLs and bloggers to cooperate with." A securities practitioner's tone was full of enthusiasm and anticipation when talking about the expansion of crypto business.
On the other hand, a blockchain company employee who had just joined and then left said in a depressed tone: "I'm leaving. I can't stand this state-owned enterprise style."
In the same Hong Kong, within the same cryptocurrency ecosystem, some people experience the excitement and opportunity brought by the industry's economic upswing, while others experience the weariness and frustration brought on by institutional and cultural friction. This dramatic rift unfolds daily.
On the one hand, almost all major Hong Kong brokerages have already entered the cryptocurrency business. Recent statistics show that over 40 brokerages, over 35 fund companies, and over 10 major banks and accounting firms in Hong Kong are involved in virtual asset trading. For example, Futu Niu Niu, Hong Kong's largest tech brokerage, began offering clients trading services for virtual assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum as early as August of last year. By the end of that year, its average daily trading volume exceeded US$35 million.
From securities firms, funds, banks, auditors, and insurance companies, Hong Kong's mainstream financial institutions are systematically and comprehensively integrating cryptocurrencies into the city's financial system. This has given some financial practitioners who have crossed over into the cryptocurrency industry a sense of long-lost innovation and the beauty of an upwardly mobile industry.
On the other hand, however, some crypto natives who have joined compliance firms are experiencing a profound disillusionment. The decentralized utopia they once believed in is now colliding with the realities of regulation, compliance, and finance. The desire to maintain their crypto native identity while also striving for a share of the compliance industry is becoming an intractable conflict.
Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry is gradually giving birth to a new species amidst the constant tearing and fusion of three major cultures.
The first culture is Crypto Native.
For example, early Hong Kong-compliant cryptocurrency exchanges such as HashKey and OSL have attracted many Crypto Native practitioners who have jumped from companies such as Huobi, Bybit, and Binance. This has ensured that the cultural background of these companies remains relatively "native" and maintains an open, flexible, and market-first atmosphere.
Similar to digital natives, crypto natives are deeply versed in the blockchain world, naturally sensitive to crypto culture and creative, and believe in decentralization and the borderlessness of technology. However, the crypto native workforce appears to be shrinking, with more internet finance and traditional finance practitioners entering the industry and rapidly gaining dominance within regulatory frameworks.
The second is Internet financial culture.
Futu, Ant Group, Ant Digits, and JD.com are all typical examples. These companies, armed with mature online operations and user growth experience, are actively entering Hong Kong's cryptocurrency market. Some have already integrated well into Hong Kong's mainstream financial culture. Take Futu NiuNiu, for example. As Hong Kong's largest online brokerage, it not only maintains a firm online presence but also operates six physical stores in Hong Kong's busiest neighborhoods, demonstrating a strong blend of internet finance DNA and local expertise.
During a visit to a Futu store in Hong Kong, a Futu employee enthusiastically helped me open a US stock account. She told me she sees over a hundred customers per week seeking advice on US and Hong Kong stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other services. "Currently, Hong Kong residents can access cryptocurrency transactions, but mainland Chinese ID holders cannot," the employee explained.
Futu Holdings reportedly has over 26.25 million registered users, with Futu Niu Niu Niu penetration exceeding 50% of the adult population in Hong Kong. This massive user base gives it a natural advantage in the Hong Kong cryptocurrency market. An industry insider revealed that cryptocurrency transactions by Futu Hong Kong users currently rely on HashKey Exchange's underlying trading system, and this portion of trading volume already accounts for a significant portion of HashKey Exchange's overall trading volume.
Besides Futu, Ant and JD.com are also vying for a foothold in the Hong Kong crypto scene. However, unlike Futu, which focuses on cryptocurrency exchanges, Ant and JD.com are more focused on stablecoins and public blockchains. While Futu already has a license, it's still unclear whether Ant and JD.com will obtain one.
Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry isn't a completely market-driven competition, but rather a resource-intensive one, requiring a license to operate. An industry insider revealed that Chinese banks are more likely to secure the first stablecoin licenses.
The third type of culture is Hong Kong's traditional financial culture. Examples include HSBC, Bank of China (Hong Kong), and Victory Securities. These companies have a long history in Hong Kong's financial sector. Some have foreign capital, some have Chinese capital, and some have local family backgrounds. They have also incorporated this diverse culture into the Hong Kong cryptocurrency industry.
Today, Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry has developed a legal industry chain covering hundreds of financial institutions – from securities firms, funds, banks, auditors, to insurance companies, each link operates under a compliance framework.
From a geographical and background perspective, this industry chain encompasses foreign, Chinese, and local institutions; from a technological and institutional perspective, it brings together crypto natives, internet finance companies, and traditional financial institutions. Together, they form a diverse ecosystem within Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry, supporting the steady development of the local crypto asset market.
The rift and fusion between different cultures are shaping this new industry.
The Hong Kong cryptocurrency market is no longer something that can be simply defined. It has become a unique and complex system covering more than 100 Hong Kong financial institutions.
It’s the same Hong Kong, the same ecosystem, but everyone’s feelings about the Hong Kong cryptocurrency market are completely different.
Some practitioners feel that the compliant Hong Kong cryptocurrency market is releasing a kind of beauty of economic growth.
For example, some traditional financial practitioners who have just crossed over to the crypto industry, companies that have applied for or are applying for exchange or stablecoin licenses, and Internet financial giants that already have a large number of users and can expand the market just by obtaining a license… They have shown a strong momentum.
This is particularly evident in recruiting. For example, companies like Futu, JD.com, and Shengli Securities have shown a strong desire for talent in the market and are poaching people at prices higher than the market price.
However, some practitioners believe that the Hong Kong cryptocurrency market has entered a period of stock market decline. Hong Kong's leading crypto companies have not found a good way to expand the market, and are forced to enter a vicious cycle of grabbing the market share.
“Yes, I left. I couldn’t stand this state-owned enterprise style.” said an employee of a public chain with a background in a large institution who left shortly after joining.
“There’s a lot less subjective initiative, and everything we do has to be regulated first.” When asked if there are any significant changes in work content after moving from the native cryptocurrency industry to the compliant cryptocurrency industry, a mid- to senior-level manager of a crypto-compliant exchange responded.
Some practitioners also feel torn because of the huge cultural and institutional differences between Crypto Native and the compliance circle.
The latest event to spark discontent among many Crypto Natives is the Hong Kong Stablecoin Act, which officially takes effect on August 1, 2025. "I've never seen a stablecoin that requires KYC, nor have I seen a stablecoin that restricts VPN use. How can this support innovation and development?" complained one practitioner.
For practitioners who grew up immersed in crypto and blockchain culture, they are accustomed to a life driven by code and community. However, the current regulatory compliance in Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry is driven by policy, which has essentially created two different ecosystems. However, many practitioners are still not prepared to switch perspectives and positions between the two ecosystems.
Hong Kong's unique cryptocurrency industry is experiencing the pain of forced integration driven by policy. This pain not only involves the adjustment of policies and systems, but also touches on the conflict and reconciliation between traditional financial culture, internet finance culture, and the native culture of crypto.
When a new system is first launched, there are often opportunities for early adopters to "make a fortune in silence." They get the first share of the cross-border pie.
For example, at the dawn of stablecoins, Tether's trading volume increased 100-fold within a year, exceeding $10 billion in 2017, $1 trillion in 2020, and exceeding $10 trillion in 2024. Another example is Binance's daily trading volume exceeding $100 million in the first two months of its existence, exceeding $1 billion in the fourth month, and exceeding $5 billion in the sixth month.
Of course, there are currently no companies in Hong Kong with such rapid business growth, but this does not mean that there are no companies that have reaped the first wave of dividends in the process.
“Recently, traditional financial institutions have been contacting us every day, wanting to discuss crypto business with us. We are also trying to promote our new business on platforms such as YouTube and X, and looking for influential KOLs and bloggers to cooperate with us,” said a Hong Kong securities firm practitioner who is involved in the cryptocurrency business.
"As Hong Kong embraces cryptocurrency, hundreds of Web 3 companies have settled in Hong Kong. They need to consult law firms for policy advice, apply for various licenses, and develop various businesses. This has created a large amount of business demand for some law firms specializing in cryptocurrency compliance." said a crypto practitioner familiar with the law firm.
“Every Web 3 company that wants to develop in Hong Kong long-term will apply for a Hong Kong corporate bank account and generate a lot of transactions here. This also brings a lot of business to banks that value this business early on, such as ZhongAn Bank,” said a practitioner of a Hong Kong compliant exchange.
The opportunities in Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry may not only lie in the traditional exchanges, asset management companies and stablecoin companies. Institutions that provide "water seller" services in the development of Hong Kong's crypto industry are often also an important part of the beneficiaries.
And those companies that are truly making a fortune in silence often become known to the public only after several years.
"For Crypto Native, Hong Kong's compliant crypto companies are innovating too slowly, and they have a bit of a bureaucratic and even state-owned enterprise vibe. For Hong Kong's traditional financial institutions, this year's innovation KPIs may have already been exceeded," commented a mid- to senior-level manager of a compliant crypto exchange.
From different perspectives, Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry presents completely different appearances.
For practitioners who grew up immersed in crypto and blockchain culture, they're accustomed to a rhythm driven by code and community. However, Hong Kong's crypto industry today is driven entirely by policy. The uninhibited atmosphere is gone, and the edge of innovation has been weakened, replaced by the steadiness and restraint of compliance. Many crypto natives feel that Hong Kong's regulatory framework is "castrating" the original creativity of the cryptocurrency community, and this rejection has left them feeling lost.
For some practitioners in the traditional financial industry who are accustomed to the safe and stable pace of development, the pace of innovation in Hong Kong's crypto industry is not slow, but is developing in an orderly manner. Slow is fast; fast is slow.
Those working in this era can only adapt. Whether they love it or resist it, the tide of history will eventually roll forward.