Hong Kong Names Solana Company a Strategic Enterprise; Firm to Set Up APAC HQ and Validator Operations

What happened

Nasdaq-listed Solana Company (ticker HSDT) announced on October 22 that it has been selected by the Hong Kong SAR Government's Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) as a strategic enterprise, named at a signing ceremony as part of the office's seventh batch of companies. It is the only blockchain infrastructure company onboarded in 2026.

What it will do in Hong Kong

The company has opened an office in Hong Kong to serve as its Asia-Pacific headquarters, with the executive team running regional operations from the city. Under its "Pacific Backbone" initiative it plans validator operations in Hong Kong — computers that help confirm transactions and keep a blockchain running, giving the city a bigger role in operating the Solana network. It also already advises financial institutions across Asia-Pacific and engages regulators and policymakers.

What the company says

Chairman and CEO Joseph Chee said he is excited by Hong Kong's progress on digital assets and believes in its future as an international financial centre, calling Asia-Pacific central to the company's strategy. The company describes itself as a publicly listed digital asset infrastructure and services business combining treasury management, institutional-grade staking and validator operations.

Context

OASES was set up in 2022 and has brought in more than 140 strategic enterprises so far, including Pfizer, GSK, Roche, Dassault Systèmes, DiDi and AI developer MiniMax. The designation comes weeks after Hong Kong set a goal in its first five-year plan of building a "world-leading licensing and regulatory regime for digital assets," alongside the Stablecoins Ordinance and the HKMA's Project Ensemble. The announcement mentions no funding, tax benefits or licences tied to the designation, and discloses no validator count or timeline.