Hong Kong fund plans to raise $100 million for crypto investment

As Hong Kong is erstwhile again opening up to the crypto market, section investors are launching a $100-million money to concern the integer industry. The caller fund, ProDigital Future, volition purpose astatine Web3 companies successful their aboriginal stages, oriented astatine the determination market. 

According to a Bloomberg report from March 30, ProDigital Future has finished its half-year fundraising play with astir $30 cardinal successful its pockets, though it plans to full this sum up to $100 cardinal by the extremity of 2023.

The money is led by Ben Ng, a spouse astatine Hong Kong-based equity steadfast SAIF Partners, and Curt Shi, a long-time tech capitalist from China. At this point, Sunwah Kingsway Capital Holdings and Golin International Group person already hopped successful to enactment the fund.

So far, the fundraising process has been “relatively smooth,” arsenic Mr.Shi told journalists, though the investors are cautious astir putting their wealth into crypto projects. Reportedly, not lone Hong Kong investors but immoderate household offices from China, Australia and Singapore besides participated successful ProDigital Future.

The money volition “embrace Hong Kong and its policies” but besides intends to beryllium contiguous successful Australia and Singapore, “as good arsenic successful Europe and the U.S.”

ProDigital Future has already invested successful six digital-asset projects with metaverse institution GigaSpace and One Future Football, a integer shot league from Australia, presently operating successful stealth mode.

Related: OKX plans Australian expansion, citing ‘huge appetite’ for crypto

In October past year, the authorities of Hong Kong floated the thought of introducing its ain measure to modulate crypto, and connected Feb. 20, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission released a connection for a authorities for cryptocurrency exchanges, acceptable to instrumentality effect successful June.

The authorities suggests a indispensable licensing procedure, demanding from the imaginable marketplace players to meet a fig of prerequisites, including the harmless custody of assets, Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering/counter-financing of coercion (AML/CFT).