Trump At Bitcoin Asia 2025? Hong Kong Officials Say ‘No Thanks’

Hong Kong’s Bitcoin conference has become a test of politics and optics rather than just a meeting for crypto ￰1￱ Drop Out After Speaker Confirmation According to reports , two local figures quietly pulled out of Bitcoin Asia 2025 after Eric Trump – son of US President Donald Trump – was listed as a ￰2￱ Yip Chee-hang of the Securities and Futures Commission and lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong withdrew from the event lineup, which runs on August 28 and ￰3￱ declined to say if the changes were forced, but sources told the South China Morning Post that officials were urged to skip the conference if Eric Trump appeared. A Hong Kong official and a lawmaker have withdrawn from a Bitcoin Asia conference in the city following advice not to engage with Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, the South China Morning Post reported. ￰0￱ — Bloomberg (@business) August 28, 2025 A Delicate Balance Between Trade And Appearances Hong Kong’s leaders are juggling big ￰4￱ city wants foreign crypto firms and is promoting rules meant to attract ￰5￱ the same time, ties between the US and China are ￰6￱ on Hong Kong exports are at 145%, a figure that some officials see as a reminder to be cautious about public ￰7￱ Siu-kai, an adviser to a Beijing-linked think tank, said the withdrawals avoid any sense of taking sides with Washington during a sensitive ￰8￱ Connections Draw Attention Eric Trump is scheduled for two sessions, titled “All in on Bitcoin” and “Bitcoin Takes Over the World.” He co-founded American Bitcoin and has links to World Liberty Financial , according to public filings and past ￰9￱ US President Donald Trump back in the White House and pushing crypto-friendly rules, the family’s moves are being watched more closely than ￰10￱ attendees say his name will still draw ￰11￱ worry it will keep the focus off ￰12￱ Voices Push Back On Political Framing Joshua Chu of the Hong Kong Web3 Association told reporters that the walkout looked like personal choices, not a political ￰13￱ argued that Eric Trump’s presence underlines Hong Kong’s role in crypto.

Still, several people at the scene said that political considerations were ￰14￱ event, now in its second edition this year, was meant to highlight panels on tokenization and funding, but the headlines have ￰15￱ Policy Fits Into The Picture Hong Kong recently rolled out a revised Digital Assets Policy and a stablecoin ordinance on August 1 as part of a push to make the city friendlier to virtual ￰16￱ push is ￰17￱ say the conference will continue, with some sessions kept intact and others quietly ￰18￱ meeting will likely show how far officials are willing to separate tech outreach from larger state-to-state ￰19￱ image from Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images, chart from TradingView