Arthur Hayes, the ex-Head of crypto derivatives heavyweight BitMEX, shares a belief that the next crypto bull run will start with China’s return to the market, and Hong Kong plays a crucial role in this process. 

Specifically, in his Oct. 26 blog post dubbed “Comeback,” Hayes reportedly detailed the reason for his perspective regarding the Hong Kong government’s announcement related to the release of a bill to regulate crypto a sign China is looking for a comeback into the market.

This could be due to the reason that Hong Kong functions as “the proxy through which China interacts with the world”. 

“When [China] loves crypto, the bull market will come back. It will be a slow process, but the red shoots are budding.”

Hayes argued that Hong Kong has a possibility of turning into the testing site for Beijing to run testings with crypto markets and function as a hub for Chinese capital to locate its way into the global crypto markets.

“If these flows actually materialize in the way I imagine, they will be a strong supporting pillar of the next bull market.”

Per Hayes, Hong Kong’s “reorientation as a pro-crypto location” is within the scope of Beijing’s strategy to bring down its position in a way that will not cause destabilization to its internal financial network.

Hong Kong was reportedly listed as among the best-prepared nation for widespread crypto adoption in a study by Forex Suggest published in July 2022. It took into consideration numerous factors such as crypto ATM installations, pro-crypto regulations and startup culture.

Beijing reportedly doubled down on its crypto crackdown efforts last year, when it conducted several regulatory operations to remove Bitcoin mining from the nation and deemed all crypto transactions illegal.

Nonetheless, Hayes claims, “China has not left crypto — it has just been dormant.”