HK’s Web3 future | Musheer Ahmed, FinStep Asia

Syed Musheer Ahmed is founder of FinStep Asia, a fintech and crypto advisory. He is also part of Hong Kong Web3 Harbour, a local association representing crypto and digital assets businesses.

Musheer has recently led an effort by Web3 Harbour to provide a paper that blueprints how Hong Kong’s policymakers and private industry can align to advance Web3 interests.

Musheer speaks with DigFin‘s Jame DiBiasio about what this means, particularly around setting global standards. He talks about what that means in the context of a decentralized market, and what that looks like particularly from a Hong Kong perspective. He also discusses areas where global norms are developing and ways to support a healthy, compliant crypto industry.

• Timecodes:
• 0:00 – Syed Musheer Ahmed, FinStep Asia
• 2:10 – Publishing HK Web3 Harbour’s blueprint for policymakers and industry leaders, and how the private sector can support government initiatives
• 6:15 – Who sets standards in a decentralized financial marketplace?
• 9:49 – Is Hong Kong situated to take the lead in developing international standards?
• 14:43 – Has Dubai and VARA already set most of the standards for crypto?
• 18:34 – How the private sector can advance norms for stablecoins and financial assets onchain
• 21:29 – Lessons from JPEX: regulating a global industry with fraud
• 27:28 – Do crypto players want standards, or regulatory arbitrage?
• 29:57 – Scope for setting the pace as the US turns pro-crypto
• 34:07 – Milestones for Hong Kong and Web3