Binance CEO Richard Teng used his appearance at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026 to deliver a strong endorsement of Hong Kong's approach to digital asset regulation, while also welcoming emerging frameworks from Europe and the United States as positive steps toward the global regulatory clarity the industry needs to scale.Asked how Hong Kong's regulatory environment is accelerating real adoption of digital assets and instant cross-border payments across APAC — and how frameworks like MiCA in Europe and the GENIUS Act in the US are shaping the broader landscape — Teng gave a measured but optimistic assessment.Hong Kong: a model for crypto-friendly regulationTeng said he has been engaged in ongoing dialogue with Hong Kong's policymakers and regulators and praised the city's consistent effort to create clear, workable legislation for the Web3 industry. He specifically cited the Virtual Assets (VA) Act as a pivotal development — one that provided not just clarity for crypto-native companies, but also gave traditional financial institutions a defined framework within which to participate."With the passing of the VA Act, it caused a lot of clarity not only to Web3 players on how we can maneuver, but financial institutions on how they can play within — and what are the user rights on that front. So everybody is willing to partake because of that."— Richard Teng, CEO, Binance | Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026Teng's framing is significant: regulatory clarity, in his view, is not a constraint on the industry but an enabler of it. By defining the rules of the game, Hong Kong has unlocked participation from institutions that would otherwise have remained on the sidelines.Global frameworks: MiCA, GENIUS Act, and the Clarity ActBeyond Hong Kong, Teng welcomed the wave of crypto legislation emerging across major economies. He pointed to MiCA in the European Union, the GENIUS Act in the United States — a stablecoin-focused bill that has advanced through the US legislative process — and the forthcoming Clarity Act as further evidence that the world's largest markets are moving in the right direction.While Teng acknowledged that cross-border regulatory fragmentation remains a challenge — with compliance requirements still varying significantly between jurisdictions — he was clear that each new piece of legislation represents progress, not friction."Every piece of clarity and legislation is a movement in the right direction."— Richard Teng, CEO, Binance | Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026Why regulatory clarity unlocks cross-border payments and APAC growthTeng's comments connect directly to the broader conversation at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026 around cross-border payments and asset digitization. As Binance and other major platforms push for stablecoin-based remittance infrastructure and on-chain asset trading, the presence of clear legal frameworks in key jurisdictions is what enables institutions, payment providers and retail users to engage with confidence.For Hong Kong specifically, the city's early mover advantage in passing clear crypto legislation — including its recently enacted Stablecoins Ordinance, under which HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial have already received the city's first fiat-backed stablecoin issuer licenses — positions it as the regulatory benchmark for the rest of APAC.Teng concluded with a reiteration of his support for Hong Kong's direction, expressing hope that the city's model will continue to scale — and that other jurisdictions will follow suit with similarly clear and actionable frameworks for digital assets.
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