China Will Eventually Find Way to Manage Crypto, Solana's Chee Says — Interview
By Jihye LeeSEOUL--China will eventually find a way to allow more cryptocurrency activity while maintaining controls over the market, says Solana Co. Executive Chairman Joseph Chee."China eventually will find a way to manage crypto," Chee said in an interview on the sidelines of Korea Blockchain Week.China, once a major center for bitcoin trading and mining, banned fundraising through new digital tokens and ordered domestic crypto exchanges to close in 2017. Authorities widened the crackdown in 2021, declaring cryptocurrency transactions illegal and restricting mining.Hong Kong has taken a different approach. It introduced a licensing system in 2023 that allows approved platforms to serve retail investors.China remains concerned about speculation and scams, said Chee, who is also CEO at Solana, the digital asset treasury dedicated to acquiring the coin of the same name, created in partnership with Pantera and Summer Capital.Still, Chinese investors, academics and developers remain interested in the technology, Chee said. "It will take longer than expected, but it will happen."Hong Kong will likely remain the main testing ground for China's approach to crypto, he added.The city allows regulated cryptocurrency businesses, although uncertainty over Beijing's position can slow decisions."Hong Kong is still probably the best location [in Asia], the most open," he said.South Korea could also offer lessons for China, Chee said. Korea has allowed widespread retail cryptocurrency trading while maintaining capital controls and close oversight of domestic exchanges."It's not perfect, but way better than China," he said.Even with some bright spots in Asia, the U.S. is moving more quickly to set rules for crypto, Chee said, despite a recent setback to legislation in Congress.He's upbeat on the longer-term outlook for crypto, seeing tailwinds in investors reconsidering their exposure to the dollar and U.S. government debt amid fiscal-health concerns, which can support demand for gold and digital currencies."Asset prices are a function of liquidity, and then it's a function of trust," Chee said. "The U.S. dollar, U.S. Treasury...the credibility has been questioned."As for users of Solana, Chee sees the blockchain network reach hitting 1 billion monthly active users within five years."Once you get to a certain scale, you're going to attract even more," he said. "Within five years, we could hit a billion."Write to Jihye Lee at [email protected]