The 2025 Consensus, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency-themed conferences, will be held in Hong Kong as the city’s government woos global virtual asset businesses in an effort to become a hub.

The event will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre next year, aiming to attract around 10,000 attendees, conference host CoinDesk, a US cryptocurrency media outlet, said on Thursday.

The event will be one of the biggest international crypto conferences to be held in Hong Kong since the Asian financial hub pledged in late 2022 to embrace and develop its virtual asset industry. The 2024 edition of the event will be held in Austin, Texas, in May.

Local and mainland Chinese crypto industry players have responded positively to Hong Kong’s series of supportive policies and new regulatory framework. But few major international firms and events have yet to commit to the city, which saw an exodus of crypto businesses in recent years amid regulatory uncertainties for the sector and Covid-19 travel controls.

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As Hong Kong pursues its crypto hub ambitions, government bodies including InvestHK and the Hong Kong Tourism Board have jointly worked on bringing Consensus to the city, according to King Leung, InvestHK’s head of financial services and fintech.

“We need to tell the world that this is for real … the Hong Kong government’s resolve to foster the development of web3 and digital assets is for real,” Leung said in an interview with the Post on Wednesday.

While the first wave of interest in Hong Kong’s Web3 initiatives came from overseas Chinese crypto entrepreneurs, international players – particularly US firms – started looking into the market since mid last year, according to Leung.

However, interested US firms have kept a low profile about their visits to the city in recent months, partly due to the regulatory landscape in the US, Leung said. Holding Consensus 2025 in Hong Kong will offer a platform for US crypto firms to connect to the market, he added.

Attendees can expect crypto companies from the US, Europe and the Middle East to participate in next year’s event, as well as Fortune 500 CEOs, movie stars, athletes and musicians, Foster Wright, president of CoinDesk, told the Post on Wednesday.

The Hong Kong government has over the past year steadily expanded its legal toolkit to supervise the virtual asset industry as it moves to attract such businesses.

Last year it put in place a mandatory licensing regime for centralised cryptocurrency exchanges, allowing them to serve retail investors. A total of 24 firms, all with ties to mainland China or Hong Kong, submitted applications for a licence, including some of the biggest platforms in the industry such as OKX.

Hong Kong is also moving to regulate stablecoins and over-the-counter crypto shops, and has introduced new rules for banks providing virtual-asset custody services.