Quick take:
- StepN is opening its first regional office at Hong Kong’s government-owned Cyberport.
- Jerry Huang co-founder of the move-to-earn game said Cyberport chairman George Lam is eager to create a web3 startup environment in Hong Kong.
- The move comes in the midst of a crypto startup exodus from the country amid fears the government will implement strict restrictions to prevent money laundering.
StepN is opening its first regional offices at Hong Kong’s state-owned Cyperport according to the announcement. The popular move-to-earn crypto game is taking an ambitious step given recent events in the country.
Crypto startups have been closing their Hong Kong operations amid fears a new regulatory framework created to prevent money laundering could bottleneck the industry in the country. However, according to Jerry Huang, co-founder of StepN, it is Cyberport chairman George Lam who called on him to encourage StepN to ‘help Hong Kong create a Web3 start-up environment’.
Cyberport is a government-owned accelerator program created in 2004 to attract startups operating in emerging industries to set up offices in Hong Kong. According to the announcement, Lam travelled to Syndey, where StepN headquarters are located to invite the crypto startup to join its accelerator program.
“I was honoured that he came to see me,” Huang said in a video interview during Cyberport’s Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum earlier this month. “We had dinner and Dr Lam enthusiastically invited us to go and help Hong Kong create a Web3 start-up environment together. I felt very happy and encouraged.”
Unlike other NFT games, StepN rewards users with crypto for their physical activity. Every step a person makes can earn in-game tokens $GMT by walking or running in the real world, which can be converted to any other cryptocurrency in the secondary market.
StepN recently announced it was expanding its team and seeking new partnerships and reporting $122.5 million in platform fees. In May, it launched “Realm Gaming” for multicultural experiences. The company is looking to onboard varying cultures into the platform, and opening physical offices in Hong Kong is seen as a positive move to achieving that goal.
Huang was particularly attracted by the fact that Hong Kong represented the “best fusion of Western and Eastern cultures”, in addition to being one of the leading global financial centres.
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