Hong Kong is a pre-ICO Haven.

Hong Kong is where the pulse is at for pre-ICOs.  But why Hong Kong?  This post will go into depth about: 

1. Who’s coming here to promote their ICO? 
2. What’s the benefit of being in HK? 
3. Who’s operating here and Why in HK? 
4. Where to find out more about ICOs and cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong? 

So Who’s coming here right before their ICO? 

ZCash, Golem, Status.im. TenX, 0x, OpenANX, Indorse.io

All of these recent ICOs have had founders here speaking and engaging with the public right before their ICOs in the last few months. 

What’s the benefit of being in HK? 

Get up close and personal with some of the biggest movers in cryptocurrency.  In my opinion, the accuracy and quality of information is several times higher when you can talk to people on the ground in person. You can get the emotional tone and feel which can sometimes be evasive online. 

https://www.meetup.com/Bitcoin-HK/events/240234541/

On June 8, Bitcoin HK hosted a lecture series. I went thinking I might learn something or maybe not.. I gained a lot more than bargained for. Panelists shared their experiences with how to evaluate ICOs, look at what worth investing in and whats not, how to go about it and if its for you. The Bitcoin HK organisation does a fantastic job of educating the public and providing ample forum for discussion openly with people experienced in the field and complete newbies. There is a good effort to make the community welcome to people who are new. No question is too stupid or dumb to ask. 

A few Major take aways from the ICO discussion:

1. Do your homework. There is a lot of hype and don’t invest in anything you don’t know about.  
2. Talk to the teams directly if you can. There is ample opportunity here in HK for teams that visit. Where can you meet them? See the links below. 
3. Regulators are coming. The market is largely unregulated at the moment so there are plenty of scams and little insurance that the team that takes your money from an ICO is really going to be successful. 
4. The benefit of the ICO is that right now anybody can invest. However most US citizens are blocked; this isn’t really checked by using ID’s however. Most checks are done just by IP Addresses. 

Who’s operating here and Why in HK? 

A few companies you may recognise that are operating in HK:

• Dash Labs 
• BitMEX 
• Genesis Mining
• GateCoin

While these companies aren't seeking ICOs, they are in the cryptocurrency market, either as exchanges, mining companies or seeking to develop new hardware for transactions. See Dash Labs's recent post for their long term vision on making a scalable transaction network that can compete with VISA or Mastercard. 

Why do these companies operate here? 

Here are just a few reasons why: 

1. English speaking, easy to do business if you are a Westerner
2. Legal system is not china, but you are right next to China.
3. Tax rate is low, capped at 15%. One of the best places to do business in the world. 
4. Right next to Shenzhen. So if you need hardware, but don’t want to do deal with the headache of setting up operations in mainland China, as in the car of Dash Labs, just go next door. 
5. Known as a Financial Centre and a place to do fast business. 
6. Its known as a kind of "laissez faire" in-between spot for regulation. 

Where to find out more about ICOs and cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong? 

• Etherum Meetuphttps://www.meetup.com/Ethereum-Hong-Kong/
• Bitcoin Meetuphttps://www.meetup.com/Bitcoin-HK/
• Blockchain Meetuphttps://www.meetup.com/topics/blockchain/hk/hong_kong/