Former Meta employee Aptos tests Hong Kong’s crypto demand

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Since Hong Kong legalized crypto trading in June last year, blockchain projects in Western countries have attracted more attention to the Asian financial hub. Aptos, the blockchain network supporting A16Z developed by a group of former Meta employees, is one of them.

Aptos was started by some of the original creators of the Meta-abandoned crypto payments project Diem. host DeFi event to be held in Hong Kong in April this year. Decentralized finance (DeFi), which seeks to replace traditional banking intermediaries with decentralized technology, has so far been a prominent use case for the blockchain space.

“I went to Hong Kong twice last year in the span of three months,” said Mo Shaikh, co-founder and CEO of Aptos. Aptos is a layer 1 blockchain, meaning it does not rely on existing decentralized networks such as Ethereum or Solana. .

“And what I realized is that from meeting people like Alibaba and Tencent to meeting other financial institutions like: It's coming back like never before, and Web3 is getting a lot of attention.'' There's HSBC and the incubator. So when you see that level of activity and that level of interest in Aptos, obviously you have to make sure that you can't ignore it,” he added.

Indeed, X/Twitter space Aptos, which was held in Chinese this week, drew an audience of more than 45,000 people.

Although all forms of cryptocurrency trading are banned in mainland China, the government has left the option open in Hong Kong, a move many industry observers see as a way for Beijing to control financial fluctuations in other parts of the country. I see it as a sandbox in which to play with Web 3 without potentially triggering anything.

Aptos is already working with Alibaba to reach Web3 developers in Asia. In November, the partners announced plans to co-host a hackathon using Move, an open source programming language developed by Meta.

Aptos Chain uses Move to create smart contracts. A smart contract is a line of code that automatically executes predetermined terms and conditions. Solidity is the main language used to program smart contracts on Ethereum, the largest blockchain by developer activity.

Aptos is focused on all emerging markets. One of his most ambitious efforts is the JamboPhone. This is a joint effort between blockchain and Jambo, a Congo-based startup that aims to become Africa’s “Web3 Super App.” Priced at $99, the phone comes pre-installed with Aptos-compatible wallet Petra and is sold in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

Solana's Saga phone, powered by Layer 1 blockchain, targets a distinctly different demographic at a price point of $1,000.

“The great thing is that [JamboPhone] Imagine if there were new forms of digital money, stablecoins, eHKD, or even the Singapore dollar. Money will be instantly available on these devices, expanding to create real value for people who are often left out of the financial system. ” suggested Shaikh.

When asked when Hong Kong users will be able to access Aptos-based DeFi services, the founder said he could not speculate on regulations.

“I believe Hong Kong regulators are moving things in the right direction and making it clear what entrepreneurs should build. And that’s a very healthy thing for us to continue to lean into.” I think that's a good sign,” he added.