A new English-language media project in the Special Administrative Region of China started crowdfunding to assure its survival and independence. Paranoid or shady people are welcome to donate bitcoins.

Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) claims to be “not-for-profit, free-of-charge and completely independent”. It is organised by a team of nine bilingual journalists who aim to be the first to publish breaking news about Hong Kong. They also plan to develop analytical and investigative journalism. 

HKFP wishes to become a link between Hong Kong and the outside world, overcoming the language barrier and familiarising readers all over the globe with Hong Kong local news. The main reasons seem to be political: with China trying to establish stricter control over its Special Administrative Region, the young journalists wish to make their voice heard abroad.

During the first two days, Hong Kong Free Press managed to raise $282 from seven donators. It hopes there will be more. The journalists say they wish to become self-sustainable over time and hope that once the news site becomes popular they will be able to fund it through advertising and by selling merchandise. But right now they are relying on public support. And they accept bitcoins along with other types of payment:

One of the greatest bitcoin scandals of 2015 took place in Hong Kong where a sum of 180 million Hong Kong dollars (23 million USD) was lost by the clients of a fraudulent company MyCoin. Nevertheless, addressing a request from a member of Hong Kong Council, Professor K. C. Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, stated that bitcoin circulation in Hong Kong is very limited “as compared to other places”, and therefore, bitcoin regulation is not yet necessary.

Alexey Tereshchenko