The Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC), speaking at the Greenwich Economic Forum Hong Kong conference, called Bitcoin an asset that has proven its stability over the years.

Julia Leung stated that most central banks and economists in the world are skeptical about cryptocurrencies. Many participants in the traditional financial market are convinced that Bitcoin and Ethereum have no intrinsic value, but a Hong Kong official does not agree with this point of view.

“The debate about the value of cryptocurrencies can continue endlessly, but over 15 years, Bitcoin has experienced several ups and downs, proving its economic stability. This means that it can be considered an alternative to traditional finance. An even more obvious factor is the distributed ledger technology (DLT) on which cryptocurrencies operate. She’s not going anywhere either,” said Julia Leung.

The SFC chairman’s comment came after the agency obliged all cryptocurrency platforms operating in Hong Kong to obtain a license. The regulator’s support for the Web3 ecosystem in this special region of China should not be regarded as an approval of cryptocurrencies, since, the official noted, they are speculative in nature and extremely volatile. The agency only cares about protecting the rights of crypto investors.

The SFC is currently working on a new regulatory regime for stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) recently completed a public consultation discussing with stakeholders the highly liquid reserve requirements of stablecoin issuers.

The SFC is also participating in Project Ensemble, launched by the HKMA to develop a central bank digital currency. This project is focused on tokenized deposits. In addition, a regulatory sandbox will be launched for trading and settlement of tokenized products, including green bonds and carbon credits.

Last year, the SFC’s chair said cryptocurrency trading was already an important part of the global ecosystem and tighter regulation would help bolster confidence in the market following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.