As tightening authoritarianism from China strips Hong Kong of financial freedom, Bitcoin offers its people a chance at forging their own paths.
This is an opinion editorial by Margarita Groisman, a technology engineer invested in the power of Bitcoin to help people around the world.
Hong Kong, once a beacon of free economic activity, a center of trade and commerce, and a democratic and free state with a level of sovereign control, would be rapidly taken over by mainland China.
This strategy has had significant effects on unemployment and financial troubles for the city:
“For example, the gap between the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (Hibor) and its US counterpart (dollar Libor) widened significantly after the Fed began its aggressive rate hikes, because liquidity in Hong Kong was still very ample. (Hibor and Libor represent a daily average of what banks say they would charge to lend to one another.) That gap makes it attractive for traders to borrow in Hong Kong dollars to buy US dollars to earn the higher yield. That so-called carry trade can push the local currency toward its weak end of HK$7.85, prompting the HKMA to intervene.”
Those who stay in Hong Kong stay because it is their home. But as China strengthens its control more and more over the region, COVID-19 restrictions seem to be never-ending, and even the most basic of freedoms for the population of the city continue to be eliminated. Hong Kong’s long-term outlook is looking increasingly bleak.
This would signal a complete end to Hong Kong’s autonomy.
The alternative is the current path that Hong Kong is on, where it loses regional autonomy, individual freedoms and the ability to make its own destiny.
This is a guest post by Margarita Groisman. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
