Hong Kong fund plans to raise $100 million for crypto investment

As Hong Kong is once again opening up to the crypto market, local investors are launching a $100-million fund to finance the digital industry. The new fund, ProDigital Future, will aim at Web3 companies in their early stages, oriented at the regional market.

According to a Bloomberg report from March 30, ProDigital Future has finished its half-year fundraising period with about $30 million in its pockets, though it plans to total this sum up to $100 million by the end of 2023.

The fund is led by Ben Ng, a partner at Hong Kong-based equity firm SAIF Partners, and Curt Shi, a long-time tech investor from China. At this point, Sunwah Kingsway Capital Holdings and Golin International Group have already hopped in to support the fund.

So far, the fundraising process has been “relatively smooth,” as Mr.Shi told journalists, although the investors are cautious about putting their money into crypto projects. Reportedly, not only Hong Kong investors but some family offices from China, Australia and Singapore also participated in ProDigital Future.

The fund will “embrace Hong Kong and its policies” but also intends to be present in Australia and Singapore, “as well as in Europe and the U.S.”

ProDigital Future has already invested in six digital-asset projects with metaverse company GigaSpace and One Future Football, a digital football league from Australia, currently operating in stealth mode.

Related: OKX plans Australian expansion, citing ‘huge appetite’ for crypto

In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto, and on Feb. 20, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission released a proposal for a regime for cryptocurrency exchanges, set to take effect in June.

The regime suggests a necessary licensing procedure, demanding from the potential market players to meet a number of prerequisites, including the safe custody of assets, Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering/counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).