Bitcoin ETF, OTC U Exchange I experience the gray area of ​​Web3 in Hong Kong

The following content is edited and published by Bullshit DAO

Bitcoin ETF has become a masterpiece at the beginning of 2024 through a bottom-up battle. As an asset class with development prospects, Bitcoin spot ETF was approved in the United States. Later, the world's attention was drawn to Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission is ready to evaluate and process applications for recognition of virtual asset spot ETFs and other funds, and has made substantial progress in this direction, such as Its regulatory measures for spot virtual asset ETFs are clearer than those of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, ensuring fairness and justice in transactions.

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Hong Kong, as a city that embodies [cyberpunk].

Since the last century, it has become the world's financial center. He is obsessed with money and money, and has fallen into a period of confusion. Just like his buildings, they are tall and cramped, densely planted on a small island like strange rocks from the sky. After a long period of seawater corrosion, they present a sense of shabby luxury.

The time came to 2023, it was a spring, and someone drew a circle about Web3 in Hong Kong. At the opening of the Web3 Carnival, tens of thousands of people crowded into Hong Kong, shocking the taxi driver grandfather who had been idle for three years due to the epidemic. For a time, #Web3 rose in the east and fell in the west, and #ENSUREWeb3 happens in Hong Kong became slogans to wake up Hong Kong.

As a self-proclaimed believer in decentralization, at the end of 2023, I started a Web3 journey about Hong Kong. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the mobile payment environment for a long time. After a good meal at a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant, I took out my phone and started scanning the QR code to pay, but they only supported cash. At this moment, I was a little scratched. Although there are companions to help, there is still some "exchange anxiety".

I'll be content with what I've got. I'll just be a Hong Kong gai kid. I'll take my Chinese passport and look for over-the-counter OTC and C2C on the streets of Hong Kong. When doing U transactions and smelling the money of Web3, it feels like a young and Dangerous guy.

First stop: Yau Ma Tei

Yau Ma Tei, a gathering place for Hong Kong’s children.

Crowds of people flow on Nathan Road with flashing neon lights. This is the Hong Kong in your memory, as if Stephen Chow is selling beef balls in Temple Street next door, and sesame oil in the next second A sir from the local police station will appear in front of you to arrest the criminal. This is the fireworks of Hong Kong and the home of Hong Kong Digital Exchange HKD.

This is a digital currency exchange licensed by the Hong Kong government. It claims that you can purchase cryptocurrencies with cash in 3 minutes. The 24-hour cryptocurrency ATM machine next to it can directly transfer cryptocurrencies. Currency exchanged into cash. It stands at the intersection of Nathan Road, welcoming all kinds of people. The eye-catching blue color seems to announce to the world Web3’s ambition to enter Hong Kong. However, when we walked to the HKD Exchange, it was already past business hours. The legendary 24-hour ATM machine that can be directly converted into cash has not yet seen its true appearance.

Second stop: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tsim Sha Tsui is an extremely contradictory place. In Tsim Sha Tsui, you can smell the fragrance of luxury goods, the smell of curry from Southeast Asia, and the salty sea breeze blowing from Victoria Harbour.

Walk through the subway station and look for the over-the-counter OTC exchange store [Crypto Leopard] recommended by Xiaohongshu. As a result, I changed three map apps, but nothing happened. No original store found. After searching online, I found news about the founder’s arrest. It seems that there are always people eager to try pulling out the blanket.

But in the residential building opposite the original address, there is a big BTC symbol. It looks like a place where ruffians hang out. Suddenly I want to imagine that I am holding a cigarette and wearing human clothes. With flip flops, he swaggered into the depths of that "B'" and shouted: "Terminate the transaction." I suddenly chose to take the main road, and walked a little further to Chungking Mansions, where the movie "Chungking Express" was filmed. According to recommendations on social media, there are the cheapest OTC stores in Hong Kong.

The 18-story Chungking Mansions gathers businessmen, workers and backpackers from various countries in Asia and Africa, and is known as the Kowloon Walled City of Hong Kong's ethnic minorities. Regarding the impression of it, except for Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin Qingxia under the lens of Wong Kar-wai, the remaining keywords are basically negative, such as rape, murder, filth, three religions and nine streams, complicated and chaotic, and unsafe. But as a feline with strong curiosity, I still set out to find out.

Entering the first floor of the building feels like entering some underground bank. Various currency exchange words and currency symbols of various countries are crowded in front of your eyes. Some old curry guys who solicit customers come up and stare at you. You can only smile awkwardly but politely, and they nod at you. I summoned up the courage to quietly say four letters to an Indian guy wearing an off-white T-shirt: USDT. Seeing the corners of his mouth gradually rising, I shook my hand and said in broken English: JUST KIDDING. I stepped out of the door of the building with a quick step. My friends next to me heard my heartbeat, and suddenly I felt like The feeling of being a drug lord in trouble.

I am looking for excitement and am ready to relax. I first go to the famous K11 shopping mall and rely on the map to find that there is also a BTC ATM machine in the nearby K11 shopping mall. Without saying a word, I rushed straight into the mall, trying to find a chance. K11's BTC ATM machine is located near the restrooms on the second and third floors. When I found it, I found two foreign guys trying to buy BTC with cash. Next to them, there was a Hong Kong male who was waiting for someone to go to the restroom and watched closely. lively.

After the two foreign guys finished the operation, I was eager to try it, but found that this ATM only supports the purchase of digital currencies with Hong Kong dollars, but does not support the withdrawal of cryptocurrency. I stood next to the ATM machine, and there was a sharp contrast with the long queue of people waiting to go to the toilet. I looked pitiful, weak and helpless. Suddenly, I suddenly had a whim. The current exchange rate of RMB against Hong Kong dollar is 1:1.12. According to China's strengthening of the international status of RMB, the RMB will definitely appreciate. If I can exchange RMB in front of the BTC ATM, then I should be more and more tortured.

When I came out of K11, I saw a billboard about the RWA project. In Hong Kong, where land is at a premium, this sign can be described as huge. After all, in Hong Kong, gaining any extra pound is suspected of occupying public resources. Low-pixel videos are scrolling on the huge billboards, and there is always a sense of déjà vu in Tsim Sha Tsui where low-fidelity video style and Web3 are taking over together.

Third stop: Sheung Wan

Compared to the hordes of tourists in Yau Tsim Mong and the never-ending office workers in Central, Sheung Wan seems to be a special existence. This seems to be the slowest and least noisy area in Hong Kong. It is full of the atmosphere of leisurely urban life, and taverns are everywhere, allowing many foreigners to hang out here. Walking on the streets here, listening to languages ​​from all over the world, for a moment, I actually felt that I was a foreigner. The jingle car bound for Kennedy Town is walking slowly, the graffiti on the street that makes you stop, and the antique shops where you can always find bargains suddenly make you slow down.

In Sheung Wan, you can find a laundromat with coffee and sit quietly at the door in a daze. But the ubiquitous posters of "Sexy Dealer Dealing Cards Online" and the occasional smell of plants mixed with alcohol make you particularly fascinated by this city. Your inner restlessness is like the speed of the cars here, which cannot slow down for a moment.

I followed the navigation and went straight to a laundromat. I looked at the door and felt confused until I saw a cryptocurrency ATM in the corner. Ji Cai relaxed his knitted eyebrows. But the fact is that this ATM still does not have a cash withdrawal function. The blisters on the soles of my feet were no longer enough for me to appreciate the scenery.

I sat in front of the store a little disappointed, thinking about my next plan. At this time, a young man entered the store carrying his own dirty clothes. After operating the washing machine, the young man walked directly to the cryptocurrency ATM.

I stopped the guy and asked him if I could exchange USDT for some cash. Perhaps because I was too sincere, the little brother agreed to my request and said that he had 300 Hong Kong dollars in hand that he could exchange with me.

When the little brother said Yes, I was really happy! There was a sense that the "underground bank" had come to the ground and the serfs were singing. At this moment, I felt the charm of cryptocurrency. In addition to the K-line I saw every day on the exchange, it was also what I was holding in my hand. Three hundred Hong Kong dollars exchanged for USDT.

I walked tens of thousands of steps, traveling through famous sites in Hong Kong, trying to find traces of Web3. Interestingly, the consensus is all around us. ATM machines and exchange shops are just a means and form. As long as the guy in front of me and I agree, our consensus on cryptocurrency is "exchange."

With excitement in my heart and trembling hands, I forced myself to turn on the E-person switch and started chatting with my little brother. He said that he is a designer and has also participated in the creation and distribution of NFT. I thought he agreed to exchange USDT for cash because of industry issues.

He told me, no. He once went to Thailand to use cryptocurrency to pay for consumption, and when he was living in the Philippines, he saw the landlord's son earning money through games. He said that there are many countries that have given up their national legal tender and embraced cryptocurrency due to economic problems. In the past, we always talked about the hype value of cryptocurrency, but its use value as a currency should also be given due respect.

With no food in my stomach, I invited my brother to eat thick fish ball noodles and took the 300 yuan in cash from him. The refreshing soup and chewy fish balls soothed the fatigue of the day. It wasn't until the checkout that I realized that the handling fee for transferring USDT to my brother was enough to buy a cup of Vita lemon tea.

It doesn’t matter, web3 is happening in Hong Kong and around you and me.