Public sentiment towards crypto in Hong Kong has taken a nosedive in the wake of the JPEX crypto exchange scandal, according to the initial findings of a comprehensive survey conducted by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s business school. The research sought to gauge the scandal’s impact on public attitudes toward virtual assets (VAs).
The survey revealed that a staggering 41% of respondents in Hong Kong now prefer not to hold VAs, marking a significant increase of 12 percentage points since a previous survey conducted before the JPEX scandal. The study, conducted in two phases, has tracked public sentiments regarding VA investments, intentions, and regulatory safeguards.
In this latest round of findings, approximately 20% of respondents expressed a desire to hold VAs in the future, a notable decrease of five percentage points compared to data collected before the financial incident.
With 84% of respondents confirming their awareness of virtual assets, recent events have triggered greater interest in regulatory issues and a more cautious investment approach. Associate Dean of the HKUST Business School, Prof. Allen Huang, emphasized that while VAs have the potential to drive financial sector innovation, they also pose significant risks and challenges for investors and regulators.
The survey also highlighted the media sources respondents rely on for information about VAs. “Other online resources” such as websites, blogs, podcasts, and videos were deemed the most important by 23% of respondents, closely followed by social media (21%) and traditional media like newspapers, magazines, and television (18%).
Prefer To Invest In Crypto
Regarding investment preferences, 61% of respondents identified crypto exchanges as their preferred medium for holding VAs. Among the various types of VAs, Bitcoin emerged as the top choice for 73% of respondents, followed by NFTs (24%) and Ether (21%).
Interestingly, most willing to invest in VAs plan to invest HK$50,000 or less. Respondents also preferred directly owning tokens and investing in ETFs over investing in VA derivatives or companies operating in the crypto space.
Furthermore, approximately 57% of respondents in the second-phase survey are aware of Hong Kong’s regulatory requirement for VA asset service providers, including crypto exchanges, to obtain licenses for operation, indicating a significant increase of 15 percentage points compared to the first-phase survey.
Despite the increase in regulatory awareness, there is still a common misconception among over half of the respondents that virtual assets traded on HK-licensed exchanges are approved by regulators.
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