Interview Host (Alma Li, Founder of Techub News)

Interviewee (Zhang Huachen, Co-CEO of Guofu Quantum Innovation Co., Ltd.)

Content Organizer: Peter_Techub News

Guofu Quantum Innovation Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guofu Quantum") is a pioneering enterprise in the Web3 field in Hong Kong. Through strategic transformation and forward-looking layout, it has demonstrated strong innovation and compliance capabilities in areas such as stablecoins, virtual asset licenses, RWA tokenization, and quantum computing. In this exclusive interview, Alma Li, founder of Techub News, speaks with Mr. Zhang Huachen, co-CEO of Guofu Quantum, to explore its strategic layout in the Web3 field, the significance of the Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Federation, and unique insights on RWA tokenization and quantum computing. Zhang Huachen also serves as a director of Southern Dongying Asset Management Co., Ltd., a member of the National Youth Committee, and as one of the founders of the Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Federation, contributing significantly to the compliant development of Hong Kong's digital asset ecosystem.

Strategic Transformation: Why Focus on Web3?

Alma Li:

Vincent, long time no see! It’s a great honor for you to accept this interview with Techub News. You are the CEO of Guofu Quantum Innovation Co., Ltd., and also serve as a director of Southern Dongying Asset Management Co., Ltd., a member of the National Youth Committee, and one of the founders of the soon-to-be-established Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Federation. I am very pleased to interview you, Mr. Zhang Huachen. I have a few questions to ask you.

As we all know, the progress of the United States in the blockchain and digital asset field seems to be faster than that of Hong Kong, especially in terms of US stocks and commercial applications. The establishment of the Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Federation comes at a timely moment. I noticed that Guofu Quantum underwent a strategic transformation between 2022 and 2024, focusing on fintech, particularly Web3 represented by cryptocurrencies, as a key investment area. As a large listed company, what considerations prompted you to make this strategic transformation? Especially in the context where the Hong Kong government has introduced Web3-related policies, but the regulatory environment is not yet fully clear, and the prospects for compliant exchanges and profitability remain uncertain, why do you dare to reinvest in this field? Please share your thoughts.

Zhang Huachen:

Thank you, Alma. We are old friends, and you know our group, team, and strategic thinking very well. This is a great question. In short, Guofu Quantum is a listed company we acquired in 2022. You know, our group, including myself, entered this field as early as 2017 or 2018, when we got to know each other through the preparatory work of the Hong Kong Blockchain Association. At that time, we invested in many projects, operated exchanges, and issued stablecoins, making us "veterans" in the industry.

From the perspective of the team and management, we have always been very optimistic about this direction. At that time, the regulatory environment in Hong Kong was relatively loose, and legislation was not yet complete; frankly, it was a bit of "wild growth." But as a licensed institution and a listed company, we have always maintained relative self-discipline. Before acquiring Guofu Quantum, we already had Southern Dongying, a listed company with public fund and trust licenses. Our core goal has never changed: to bridge traditional finance and digital assets.

The transformation of Guofu Quantum is not a gamble but the result of nearly a decade of persistence. Acquiring Guofu Quantum is about integrating our fintech strategy into a vehicle—a traditional full-license financial company with a 20-year history—and transforming it into a full-license digital asset platform, further developing towards cutting-edge technology and blockchain. This path is consistent. Through negotiations, transactions, and asset injections, we integrated previous compliant digital asset projects and teams, forming a clearer layout. So, this is not a risk but a continuation of a long-term strategy.

Web3 Layout: Building a Full Ecosystem Platform

Alma Li:

I understand. In other words, your team has made extensive attempts and investments in this field over the years. The acquisition of Guofu Quantum was to integrate these efforts, continuing the original strategy through asset injection and license upgrades, just with changes in form and technology. You mentioned injecting compliant digital asset projects and teams into this entity to make it stronger.

Could you elaborate on Guofu Quantum's specific layout in the Web3 field? For example, I know you have upgraded virtual asset (VA) licenses 1, 4, and 9, invested in the stablecoin project of Yuan Coin Technology, and have layouts in trading, asset issuance, and asset management. What is the overall thinking behind these layouts? What kind of ecosystem are you aiming to build?

Zhang Huachen:

You have a good understanding of our layout, but we have indeed not done enough external promotion; we are relatively low-key, and our layout is even more comprehensive than what you mentioned. From the perspective of a listed company or traditional financial institution, we are one of the earliest companies in Hong Kong to explore the compliant Web3 field, and our layout is currently the most complete.

Let’s talk about history. We have attempted compliant exchanges twice but later strategically paused. For example, in 2018, I was part of the founding team of CoinSuper, and I am still a shareholder; that was one of the earliest platforms in the industry. In 2019, we issued two stablecoins through Yiyu Technology—one was a basket stablecoin, and the other was pegged to the Hong Kong dollar. We are also founding shareholders of Yuan Coin Technology and have sent our former colleague Martin to serve as its CEO. Additionally, we have layouts in Australia and other places.

In terms of licenses, our licenses 1 and 4 have been upgraded to compliant virtual assets, and license 9 is also one of the first VA upgraded licenses. Through MyCapital, I am the controlling shareholder and chairman of the board, and 90% of its business has been integrated into Guofu Quantum. MyCapital is one of the first four companies in Hong Kong to obtain license 9. Furthermore, I am a director and founding shareholder of Southern Dongying, and we promoted the issuance of Asia's first Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, including futures ETFs. We also invested in the Swiss licensed digital asset management firm Amina (formerly CEBA) and hold two major trust licenses that can be used for digital assets without needing upgrades.

In terms of incubation, we have invested in Web3Labs and GROK, which are important parts of the ecosystem, although they do not fully follow the compliant logic. We are also LPs of top funds like Binance Labs (now Easy Labs) and HashKey Capital, and we have invested in multiple project-based funds. Additionally, in quantitative asset management, MyCapital has its own products and teams and provides channels for other institutions. We are one of the earliest approved asset management products in the entire market, with the longest operating time, and can trade the top 50 cryptocurrencies.

Our strategy covers the entire value chain: early-stage incubation through Web3Labs, mid-stage investments in the primary market, and later-stage layouts through exchanges and funds, creating a one-stop platform that integrates traditional finance and Web3, fully utilizing licenses 1, 4, 6, and 9, as well as trust licenses.

Investment and Mergers: Strategic Integration of Synergies

Alma Li:

Very comprehensive! Guofu Quantum almost covers the entire ecosystem from stablecoins to trusts, ETFs, and incubation. You mentioned pausing the exchange business, but now you plan to restart, possibly by applying for license 7. You also mentioned OTC trading, which is currently regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission under the VA Trading license. It seems that Guofu Quantum aims to build a wealth management platform for crypto assets that includes custody and trading.

Next, I would like to ask about the layout of investment and mergers. You acquired Southern Dongying Asset Management Company and were an early investor in Yuan Coin Technology. How did you choose this target for the acquisition of Southern Dongying? What impact has the acquisition had on the development of Guofu Quantum and Southern Dongying?

Zhang Huachen:

Southern Dongying is the largest Chinese public fund in Hong Kong, the largest RQFI fund, and a leading ETF issuer—seven of the top ten ETFs are issued by it. For us, acquiring Southern Dongying was an internal strategic adjustment to integrate synergistic assets into one entity to generate a greater effect. We leverage Southern Dongying's resources to support the compliant layout of virtual assets. Just like the recent rise in the stock price of Guotai Junan, the market is not focused on a single license but on its integration potential with corporate and institutional clients. Our thinking is similar; we aim to use Southern Dongying's resources to bridge the compliant channel between traditional finance and digital assets, collaborating with strategic resources from the mainland.

Stablecoin Investment: Yuan Coin Technology and Hong Kong's Prospects

Alma Li:

I understand, the acquisition is for synergy. Now let’s talk about Yuan Coin Technology. During the pandemic in 2020, when stablecoins had not yet become a hot topic, you invested in Yuan Coin Technology. What attracted you to choose this team? Currently, the stablecoin market in Hong Kong seems to be cooling down, and there are rumors that initially only banks may obtain stablecoin licenses, and the KYC requirements have led to pessimism among retail investors.

Please share: 1) Why did you choose the Yuan Coin team in 2020? 2) What is the current development situation of Yuan Coin Technology under the current stablecoin license landscape? 3) What is your view on the future prospects of stablecoins in Hong Kong?

Zhang Huachen:

For the first question, choosing Yuan Coin in 2020 was not a proactive selection on our part, but rather because its shareholders and team are the most forward-looking and top-notch combination. The founding shareholders of Yuan Coin include heavyweight figures such as the former head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, making it the most luxurious lineup at that time. Our participation was a recognition from the market, as everyone used real money to support a visionary team venturing into unknown fields.

For the second question, the stablecoin track is indeed both hot and sensitive, currently at a critical stage for licensing, and I cannot disclose details. However, we are optimistic about Yuan Coin, which has a significant first-mover advantage, possessing an SVF license, and its team includes talents with backgrounds from Alibaba, Ant Group, and global companies. Although the landscape is changing due to national strategic considerations, Yuan Coin still has various roles to play.

For the third question, I am optimistic about the prospects of stablecoins in Hong Kong. The policy dividends in Hong Kong provide advantages for ecosystem development. Even if the market cools in the short term, the long-term potential is enormous, and Yuan Coin and the entire ecosystem will benefit.

RWA Tokenization: Opportunities and Challenges Coexist

Alma Li:

Guofu Quantum recently announced its layout in the RWA tokenization field, and there has been a lot of discussion in the market about RWA tokenization. Some believe it is a new field, while others think that redoing asset securitization on-chain is not very meaningful. From your personal perspective, what are your views on RWA tokenization?

Zhang Huachen:

To be honest, RWA is not a new story. The blockchain community has long discussed how to "move" real assets such as houses, commodities, and artworks onto the chain and turn them into digital tokens. However, in the past few years, aside from leading protocols like MakerDAO and Aave seriously laying out, most projects have made a lot of noise but little rain. But this year is different. Traditional financial giants like BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan have all entered the field, and on-chain US Treasury protocols like Ondo Finance are also making frequent moves, with even the Hong Kong and Singapore governments actively promoting sandbox pilots.

Why now? The direct reason is the yield difference. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates, and US Treasury yields have soared to around 5%, while the general yield of DeFi protocols has dropped from over 10% in the past to 0.1-2%. Naturally, profit-seeking capital flows to higher-yielding and stable assets. On-chain US Treasury and other RWA products happen to become a bridge connecting traditional financial yields and crypto market liquidity. But the deeper reason is that RWA tells a bigger story: through tokenization, it brings trillions of dollars of assets from traditional finance into the blockchain, addressing issues of insufficient liquidity, high thresholds, and low transparency in traditional markets.

Indeed, some people believe that the narrative around RWA is overly optimistic. Regulation is the biggest obstacle; asset tokenization often involves securities characteristics, and regulatory policies vary from country to country, making cross-border circulation even more challenging. The credit mechanism is not yet mature, and once real assets are on-chain, how can we ensure that off-chain assets are real and transparent? Oracles can transport data, but asset verification, auditing, and default handling remain complex. The infrastructure is still exploring; existing public chains struggle to fully meet the compliance needs of RWA, which is why vertical chains specifically designed for RWA (like Polymesh) are emerging. Nevertheless, the potential of RWA is tangible.

The popularity of RWA is the result of a mutual rush between traditional finance and the crypto world. Large institutions need new narratives, and the crypto market needs new capital, and RWA happens to become the "intermediary." Any early innovation is always a mix of chaos and opportunity. In the short term, it is a product driven by yield demand; in the long term, it is an opportunity for the reconstruction of financial infrastructure.

Quantum Computing: Disruptive Opportunities for Web3

Alma Li:

The company has long-term plans in the field of quantum computing. For this area that most investors are relatively unfamiliar with, could you provide a simple explanation? What impact will this technology have on Web3, represented by blockchain?

Zhang Huachen:

When it comes to quantum computing, many people's first reaction is "advanced but hard to understand." In simple terms, it utilizes the "superposition state" of quantum bits (Qubits), which means "being 0 and 1 at the same time," to perform parallel computations—traditional computers can only calculate one possibility at a time, while quantum computers can calculate thousands of possibilities simultaneously, which is called "quantum advantage."

In the short term, some people worry about the impact of quantum computing on blockchain. For example, the cryptographic algorithms used in blockchain (like ECDSA and SHA-256) could potentially be cracked by sufficiently powerful quantum computers—although this is not an immediate concern, there is a theoretical risk. Therefore, companies like Guofu Quantum are also involved in developing "quantum-resistant cryptography" to upgrade the Web3 infrastructure.

However, quantum computing presents more opportunities for Web3. For instance, it can greatly enhance the efficiency of complex computations like zk-Rollup and privacy computing. Currently, running a complex zero-knowledge proof on-chain may take several minutes or even longer; with quantum acceleration, it could be completed in seconds, resulting in a completely different experience.

On a larger scale, the combination of quantum computing and blockchain could give rise to applications that are currently hard to imagine, such as truly decentralized AI training networks or highly complex distributed financial models—these are all heavy consumers of computing power, which traditional architectures struggle to support. Overall, we place more emphasis on the risk hedging between quantum technology and digital assets in our strategic layout, aiming for a balanced allocation.

However, it is important to remain calm; quantum computing is still in the "prototype stage," and large-scale commercial use is still far off. Challenges such as hardware stability and error correction have not been fully overcome. Therefore, companies like Guofu Quantum, which have laid out early, have invested in leading domestic quantum technology companies like Guoshield Quantum and Liangxuan Technology, driving investment banking through investment, first developing and then co-building the ecosystem, creating a spiral upward.

Hong Kong Digital Asset Federation: Leading a New Compliance Landscape

Alma Li:

We understand that the Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Federation has been established, and you serve as its president. Could you introduce the significance and purpose of this organization?

Zhang Huachen:

The establishment of the Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Federation (HKDALA) is a key milestone in Hong Kong's Web3 field. In simple terms, it integrates the previously fragmented forces within the industry, which were "playing their own games," into a "regular army" with regulatory dialogue capabilities and ecological synergy efficiency. Hong Kong has just introduced the "Stablecoin Ordinance" and the "Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0." The policy framework is set, but how the industry will land and connect with traditional finance still requires an organization to promote it. The federation serves as a bridge—helping regulators understand market innovations while assisting companies in compliant operations. For example, regarding RWA and DAT, the federation will lead compliance pilot projects to avoid "air projects" taking advantage of the situation.

Currently, traditional listed companies have a contradictory attitude towards digital assets—they want to enter the market but fear compliance risks. The federation brings together 49 listed companies covering various business types to explore "stock-coin linkage" together. For instance, in the future, can listed companies use on-chain assets for collateral financing? Or issue tokenized bonds? These are all tracks that Hong Kong wants to seize.

Now, with the concepts of RWA and stablecoins being hot, many projects rely solely on narratives to inflate coin prices. The federation has issued a "Rational Development Declaration," requiring members to focus on feasible scenarios and resist short-term speculation, aiming to eliminate bubbles and promote long-term industry development. Of course, this requires talent and infrastructure to be built together. The federation will subsequently promote cooperation with universities, training, and even establish industry standards. Hong Kong currently lacks infrastructure to serve RWA (such as on-chain asset verification and auditing processes), which needs to be built collaboratively within the ecosystem.

In summary, the federation aims to combine Hong Kong's traditional advantages in "compliant finance" with the innovative demands of "digital assets," helping the industry find compliance paths in the short term and positioning Hong Kong as a global hub for compliant digital assets in the long term. In the future, the federation will initiate ETFs, introduce strategic resources, facilitate cooperation with financial institutions, and assist in the integration of digital assets with traditional finance.

Core Summary

Through this interview, Mr. Zhang Huachen showcased Guofu Quantum's deep accumulation and forward-looking vision in the Web3 field. From early investments in stablecoins and operating exchanges to acquiring Southern Dongying, upgrading virtual asset licenses, and laying out RWA tokenization and quantum computing, Guofu Quantum has built a complete digital asset ecosystem covering incubation, investment, trading, and asset management, with compliance at its core. Zhang emphasized that Guofu Quantum's transformation is a continuation of a ten-year strategy aimed at bridging traditional finance and digital assets, seizing Hong Kong's policy dividends, and promoting healthy industry development. As the president of the Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Federation, he is committed to integrating industry resources, exploring "stock-coin linkage," and helping Hong Kong become a global hub for compliant digital assets. Facing the opportunities and challenges of RWA tokenization and the potential of quantum computing, he demonstrated profound insights into technology and market trends. The story of Guofu Quantum is not only a transformation journey of a company but also a microcosm of the rise of Hong Kong's Web3 ecosystem.

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