Emily Parker’s Post

Asia is a critically important market for digital assets, and I'm glad to see the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) increasing its presence in the region. I will be advising on Japan, Hong Kong and Mainland China (which is still very much part of this story).

Very productive trip to Hong Kong! I gave a keynote speech on the first day of the Web3 Festival, highlighting what I see as key crypto regulatory trends in the US and Asia. Here are some of the topics I covered: 1. The approval of 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs in the US is a sign of some degree of regulatory and institutional acceptance, but there’s still an overall lack of clarity. I don’t foresee major clarifications before the election. Also, just because your project or company is based outside of the US does not mean you are out of reach of US prosecutors. 2. Hong Kong has very comprehensive virtual asset regulations and is well on the path to becoming a digital asset hub. To be clear, crypto-friendly does not mean crypto-easy. It’s very hard to get an exchange license in HK, for example. 3. Japan is one of the first major economies to have comprehensive stablecoin regulations and there are lessons there for other jurisdictions trying to do the same. 4. Mainland China is still very much in the game. It’s an important part of the Web3 story. 5. Singapore is friendly to tokenization and digital asset innovation, not necessarily “crypto.” 6. Korea is a major retail market, especially for alt coins. We should see more regulatory clarity later this year. The current focus seems to be on investor protection.

Was notable to hear Cathie Wood praise Hong Kong for its regulatory clarity, while highlighting regulatory uncertainty in the US and how that’s leading to a loss of talent.

I will be giving a keynote speech at this weekend’s Web3 Festival, hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Labs and HashKey Group. I will be taking about crypto regulatory trends in the US and Asia. See you in Hong Kong!

Spoke yesterday at the Japan Fintech Festival with excellent co-panelists Carole House and Yam Ki Chan and skilled moderator James Gordon. We discussed industry “mega trends,” covering a wide range of issues from AI to institutional adoption. The mega trend I highlighted was “crypto grows up.” This means more regulatory clarity (at least outside the US), institutional involvement (ETFs) and the end of borderless crypto exchanges like the Binance of the past. The question is: How does crypto embrace the maturity without losing some of the characteristics that made it special?

This is to let everyone know that I no longer work at CoinDesk. I was leading the company's global expansion, with a particular focus on Asia. I was also a TV anchor/commentator and wrote articles about crypto markets and regulation around the world. 新的一年，新的开始

I wrote about Alexey Navalny for CNN. I first met Navalny in 2010 and he became one of the key figures in my book about how people use the Internet to challenge authority. Navalny did something that seemed impossible in Russia. He started an online resistance movement that spread to the streets. He broke through a powerful wall of political apathy. He also showed ordinary Russians the power of collective action. https://lnkd.in/g2Hzt8t4

I've been wanting to write this piece for a while. Despite countless Western media outlets describing China’s crypto “ban,” crypto trade remained very much alive on mainland China. Binance reportedly did $90 billion in Chinese trade in one month. It’s tempting to turn this into a story about the power of decentralized money to elude government control, and there is some truth in that. But that’s only part of it. Crypto hasn’t disappeared in China because crypto isn’t completely banned there. On this point, there seems to be a big perception gap between Western media outlets and industry insiders in China. Yes, China has cracked down on the crypto industry. But people pay special attention to what is not restricted. In China, it's not just about what the rules say. It important to look at how people interpret them, and how they are enforced. My piece: https://lnkd.in/gA5zT4pE