Could China be warming up to crypto?

Big news from Hong Kong. For the first time ever, cryptocurrency is being accepted as proof of wealth for investment immigration applications. That means if you’ve got Bitcoin or Ethereum, you could use it to qualify for residency—just like stocks and bonds.

Two cases have already been approved under Hong Kong’s New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES). One applicant used Ethereum, and another used Bitcoin, each holding at least HK$30 million (US$3.8 million) in crypto. Both cases went through a strict approval process, requiring assets to be stored in cold wallets or on trusted exchanges like Binance.

This is a major shift—until now, investment visas only recognized traditional assets like stocks and real estate. While it’s unclear if crypto investments or ETFs will also qualify in the future, experts see this as a step toward institutional crypto adoption in Hong Kong.

With more applicants in the pipeline, this could set a precedent for crypto-friendly immigration policies worldwide.  

So, is crypto becoming a mainstream financial asset? Hong Kong seems to think so.

Is this a bullish signal for crypto or just another political money move? Time will tell.

Toby Young, a digital assets specialist, said it was big news: “Is this a trial balloon for China, walking back some of the things that they've said in the past about crypto currency and digital assets being illegal and being bad?

“The fact that Hong Kong has now been allowed to do that, maybe that means there's a softening on the stance there.”

Crypto trading and mining has been banned in China since 2021, but some observers feel it may shift its stance after US President Donald Trump adopted a more crypto-friendly landscape.

Last November, a Shanghai court clarified that personal ownership of cryptocurrency is legal in China.