On January 29, from 20:30 to 21:30, the 14th online live broadcast of the Digital Asset Analyst Elite Forum, co-hosted by the Hong Kong Registered Digital Asset Analyst Society and Uwen, successfully concluded. This live broadcast focused on the core theme of "How Asian PayFi Can Tap into Global Opportunities and Compliance Layout," divided into a public session and an analyst-exclusive session. The public session concentrated on decoding the practical operations of PayFi business, while the exclusive session delved into the long-term growth paths of PayFi. The broadcast was hosted by Romeo Wang Hongbin, Executive Secretary General of the Hong Kong Registered Digital Asset Analyst Society, and Uweb President Yu Jianing, with special guest Shawn Head from Fi & Partnerships at Klickl, who together with nearly 300 online viewers analyzed the opportunities, regional differences, and compliance operational points in the PayFi sector.
PayFi Enters the Phase of Scaled Implementation: Core Differences Between Asia and the U.S. in Regulation and Scenarios
At the beginning of the broadcast, guest Shawn shared insights from his over a year of experience at Klickl, discussing the overall development trend of the PayFi industry. He pointed out that PayFi is currently accelerating from a conceptual stage into a phase of scaled implementation. Compared to the discussions over the past two years about RWA and on-chain protocols, PayFi-related applications are closer to actual needs, with core advantages in achieving fast payments and convenient transfers. Its development is mainly driven by three factors: the increasingly mature stablecoin infrastructure, a clear and transparent reserve system, and the positive guidance of global regulatory policies, along with strong market demand for efficient cross-border payments and multi-currency settlements.
Regarding the differences in PayFi development between Asia and the U.S., Shawn emphasized that the core gap is not in technology but rather in three main aspects: regulatory structure, bank access methods, and mainstream application scenarios. Special host Dr. Yu Jianing added that in the U.S., the "Digital Asset Act" is expected to roll out regulatory details this year, with licensing thresholds becoming clearer. Major institutions are accelerating their layouts, with established remittance companies entering the field by issuing stablecoins, and financial giants like Morgan are also advancing their own stablecoin's on-chain migration, with their tokenized deposits leaning more towards wealth management savings products, differentiating them from ordinary payment-type stablecoins.
Dr. Yu Jianing also proposed an innovative viewpoint: the revaluation of gold prices is closely related to the rise of gold stablecoins and gold RWAs. The digital transformation of gold is expected to break through traditional investment attributes and return to payment scenarios, further confirming the vast potential of the PayFi sector.
Analysis of the Hong Kong OTC Ecosystem: Compliance and Risk Control as Core Thresholds, Personal Selection Requires Skill
In light of Hong Kong's positioning as a development center for digital assets in the Asia-Pacific region, the broadcast focused on discussing the current status and challenges of the Hong Kong OTC ecosystem. Shawn stated that the core demand group in the Hong Kong OTC market is concentrated among high-net-worth individuals and enterprises, with the former focusing on asset allocation and currency exchange, while the latter primarily meets needs for cross-border settlements and liquidity management. Compared to exchanges, the core advantage of OTC is more convenient transactions and smoother processes, but the industry has extremely high thresholds, focusing on four main aspects: compliance capability, liquidity and risk control, safety of fund flows, and operational maturity.
Specifically, compliance capability requires institutions to strictly implement KYC, KYB audits, and KYT fund flow tracing, which is also a key focus of increasingly stringent global regulations (including those in Europe, the U.S., Singapore, and Hong Kong); liquidity and risk control capabilities test whether institutions can provide fixed quotes over the long term, avoid high-risk trading interfaces, and prevent issues such as channel shutdowns and funds not being credited; safety of fund flows requires banks and fiat channels to be clean and traceable, ensuring the legality of fund sources and clarity in reconciliation; operational maturity is reflected in standardized contracts, comprehensive reconciliation statements, and meeting customer needs for timely fund arrival—current market demand for real-time arrival is increasing, and the previous 1-3 day arrival cycle is no longer sufficient for mainstream needs.
For individual consumers on how to select reliable OTC merchants, Shawn suggested focusing on the merchant's compliance qualifications, fund flow tracing capabilities, years of operation, and customer reputation, prioritizing institutions with standardized contracts, clear reconciliation, and the ability to provide explicit arrival commitments, while avoiding niche merchants without compliance qualifications or with abnormal quotes.
U Card Sector: High Short-Term Rates, Long-Term Potential Concentrated in Enterprises and Emerging Markets
Regarding the highly discussed U Card sector, guests and hosts engaged in an in-depth discussion. Dr. Yu Jianing candidly stated that while U Cards seem to be a popular sector, with many willing to apply for or authorize them, the actual usage rate is low, with core pain points being high rates and various usage pitfalls.
Shawn explained that the core reason for the high rates of U Cards is the high compliance costs and card usage costs, and currently, the number of issuers is limited. Card organizations like Visa and Mastercard have very strict risk control requirements for U Cards, focusing on verifying card usage and avoiding transaction risks, which has led to some U Cards being "available today, invalid tomorrow," necessitating frequent changes of virtual card faces. He predicted that in the short term, U Card rates are unlikely to decrease, but in the medium term, as the number of issuers increases, digital banks enter the market, and risk control systems mature, rates are expected to gradually decline; in the long term, the core value of U Cards will concentrate on enterprises and high-net-worth individuals, especially suitable for consumption scenarios in emerging markets (such as Thailand, Vietnam, and the Middle East)—in these regions, some exchanges and local banks have inefficient U Coin distribution channels, and U Cards can enable "direct consumption with U," eliminating the need for additional fiat currency exchange, which is a significant advantage.
Core Application Scenarios of PayFi: Primarily B2B Cross-Border Settlements, Huge Potential in Emerging Markets
In the PayFi application scenario sharing segment, Shawn highlighted several high-potential landing cases, with B2B cross-border settlements and trade payments being core scenarios. He stated that traditional cross-border settlements rely on the SWIFT system, with arrival cycles lasting 1-3 days or even two weeks, while through the PayFi model, stablecoins can be directly issued, and local currencies can arrive in real-time, supporting multi-currency receipts and fund aggregation, significantly improving settlement efficiency and reducing costs, especially suitable for enterprises with cross-border supplier payments and overseas customer receipts.
In addition to B2B scenarios, platform-based distribution, remittances in emerging markets, and e-commerce receipts also have broad prospects. For example, outsourcing service providers in countries like India, the Philippines, and Vietnam prefer to accept U Coin settlements to avoid local currency devaluation risks; overseas workers can quickly convert local fiat currency into U Coin through the PayFi platform and send it home in real-time, solving the problems of long traditional remittance cycles and high fees; e-commerce merchants in emerging markets can also achieve stable receipts through PayFi, avoiding losses caused by currency fluctuations.
Regarding the sensitivity of fees in B2B scenarios, Shawn admitted that the current PayFi payment market is highly competitive, with fees entering an "involution" stage, where most institutions' price differences are only one to two ten-thousandths. At this time, the value of collection scenarios is increasingly prominent—institutions can collect euros, U.S. dollars, dirhams, and other currencies through local account systems, convert them into U Coin, and then make payments, forming a complete closed loop of "collection-conversion-payment," enhancing customer stickiness and profitability.
PayFi Investment Opportunities: Focus on Compliance Technology, Stablecoin Settlements, and RWA Sector
Regarding investment opportunities in the PayFi field, Shawn outlined four major directions. First is the compliance technology sector, especially technologies related to KYT and KYB, as all digital banks, PayFi institutions, and financial companies must build a comprehensive compliance framework to obtain licenses and conduct business, creating a long-term demand for such technology service providers; second is the stablecoin settlement network and fiat deposit and withdrawal capabilities, with liquidity providers (such as GCEX, Rodier, etc.) being the core hubs connecting stablecoins and fiat currencies, receiving significant attention from banks and financial institutions; third is third-party PayFi middle platform systems, including account-free APIs and reconciliation engines, which can help enterprises quickly build PayFi business systems and reduce R&D costs; fourth is the RWA trade finance settlement layer, where compliance requirements for RWA scenarios are high, but the market space is huge, especially for the tokenization of heavy assets like real estate, which can enhance asset liquidity and lower investment thresholds through blockchain for share splitting and trading circulation.
He used real estate RWA as an example, stating that traditional real estate investment has high thresholds and is difficult to cash out, while through tokenization, investors can participate in investments with a minimum of 100 U, and can achieve real-time trading on blockchain exchanges, significantly enhancing investment flexibility and security. This model is expected to become a core breakthrough in the future RWA sector.
Middle East PayFi Market: UAE Leads, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Become New Growth Points
As Klickl focuses on the Middle East market, Shawn provided a detailed introduction to the current development status, opportunities, and compliance requirements of PayFi in the region. He stated that the most mature area for PayFi and blockchain development in the Middle East is the UAE (especially Dubai), which has a complete regulatory framework including ADGM, covering exchange licenses, payment licenses, and stablecoin licenses. Its regulatory system draws on the experience of Singapore's DPT licenses, with high maturity and strong standardization.
The PayFi market in the UAE has two major advantages: first, the local government is actively promoting the dirham to become a currency as stable as the U.S. dollar, with digital banks supporting two-way exchanges between dirham and U.S. dollar stablecoins, as well as opening accounts with the same name; second, the application scenarios are extremely rich, supporting stablecoin settlements for purchases ranging from real estate to luxury cars and payment of children's tuition fees. Many high-end merchants in the area (such as the luxury car brand Gafery) have already integrated stablecoin payment channels to meet the needs of high-net-worth individuals and immigrant groups.
In terms of compliance, the regulatory requirements in the UAE are very strict, requiring institutions to have mature compliance teams and to strictly implement KYC, KYB, KYT, and other audit processes, with meticulous attention to detail. However, as long as compliance is well organized, the difficulty of conducting business is not high. Besides the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are expected to become new growth points in the Middle East PayFi market—Saudi Arabia is actively laying out in the PayFi field, trying to catch up with the UAE, but currently has fewer compliant payment channels and a strong demand for cross-border payments; Bahrain has already opened digital banking services, supporting U.S. dollar collection and payment, backed by international banking systems like JP Morgan, showing significant potential.
Shawn emphasized that the Middle East, as a neutral region between China and the U.S., has an independent regulatory system that does not favor either side, and with ample liquidity and a concentration of high-net-worth individuals, it is an important hub for the global layout of PayFi institutions.
CDA Exam Enrollment Enters Final Stage, Timing for Entry During Undervalued Period is Just Right
At the end of the broadcast, Yang Feifei provided detailed information about the latest situation of the CDA (Hong Kong Registered Digital Asset Analyst) exam. She stated that the CDA certificate is issued by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority and is personally signed by former Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Liang Dingbang. It is a professional certificate in the official directory of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, with high recognition. Many leading brokerages, banks, and asset management institutions offer reimbursement benefits for their candidates.
From the candidate profile, the average years of experience for CDA candidates exceed 11 years, with over 60% having a financial background, nearly 60% holding master's degrees, and over 80% being mid-level managers, covering various fields such as traditional finance, internet giants, artificial intelligence, and auditing law. Candidates from top global QS top ten universities and domestic top institutions like Tsinghua, Peking University, Fudan, and Jiaotong University have also participated, forming a high-quality industry ecosystem.
In terms of the exam, the CDA is divided into three levels, with the syllabus covering core topics such as digital asset categories, public chains, smart contracts, stablecoins, RWA, practical operations of spot contracts, compliance, and security. The training and registration are integrated, with a fee of 9,000 HKD (or 9,000 RMB), which includes electronic and printed teaching materials, online recorded courses, pre-exam training, and other comprehensive services. Currently, the enrollment for the March exam has entered its final stage, with limited seats available and a waiting list in place. After the March exam, there will be an upgrade and revision, increasing the difficulty and adding more review materials, with the next exam not scheduled until July.
Dr. Yu Jianing stated that the current digital asset market is in a relatively sluggish undervaluation period, making it the best time to learn and prepare for the future. He recommends that those interested in the digital asset field register as soon as possible, leveraging the comprehensive training system of the CDA to enhance their professional knowledge and seize industry opportunities.
It is reported that the total number of viewers for this live broadcast reached 270, while the internal session was exclusive to CDA candidates, focusing on in-depth Q&A regarding the long-term growth of PayFi. The Hong Kong Registered Digital Asset Analyst Society and Uwen will continue to hold weekly online live broadcasts covering the latest tracks in Web3, compliance implementation, on-chain data, and other core topics, while also conducting weekly offline activities to provide a platform for industry practitioners to exchange and learn.
Introduction to the Digital Asset Analyst (HKCDAA) Qualification Certification Exam
The Digital Asset Analyst (HKCDAA) qualification certification exam launched by the Hong Kong Registered Digital Asset Analyst Society aims to provide authoritative certification for professionals in the digital asset field. The exam content covers areas such as fundamental theories of digital assets, blockchain technology, investment analysis, trading tools, risk management, regulatory laws and regulations, and professional ethics, cultivating and certifying professionals with a global perspective in digital assets.
This exam has now been officially incorporated into the professional/vocational examination system recognized by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (listed on the authority's official website) and is administered by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, alongside internationally recognized exams such as HKDSE, CFA, and FRM, under a unified management system. This marks the official authoritative recognition of the exam by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, making it the only officially certified qualification exam in Hong Kong's digital asset industry, establishing its irreplaceable authoritative status in the industry, laying the foundation for the standardization and professionalization of talent in the digital asset field, and injecting more reliable professional strength into the Web3.0 industry.
The career development paths after obtaining the certification are broad, including directions in financial institutions and investment companies, digital asset exchanges and Web3.0 enterprises, regulatory agencies and compliance departments, digital asset investment and wealth management, as well as education and research institutions. The target audience includes practitioners in financial institutions, digital asset professionals, digital asset investors, regulatory personnel and compliance officers, as well as students and beginners.
Scan to learn more about the Digital Asset Analyst exam details
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