Hong Kong is one of the largest and most important financial centres in the world. It has been a major contributor to the growth of cryptocurrency. Some of the best-known and most profitable crypto companies have been born in China, such as the crypto derivatives exchange FTX and the digital asset platform Crypto.com.

Yet, as trillions of dollars are traded regularly through crypto exchanges founded in Hong Kong, the “Vertical City” also contains an abundance of physical over-the-counter crypto shops as well. Henri Arslanian (PwC’s crypto leader and ex-chairman of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong) told Cointelegraph that Hong Kong has a lot of OTC cryptocurrency brokers. “These are literally brick and mortar stores for the retail public,” he said.