Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a cryptocurrency hub is reportedly seeing subtle support from the Chinese government, in what could be seen as a contrast to the mainland’s hard-line anti-crypto stance.

In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto and allow retail investors to “directly invest into virtual assets” that could possibly be in contrast to China’s widespread crypto ban.

According to people familiar with the matter, Beijing officials have not been brazenly opposed to the idea. According to a Feb. 20 Bloomberg report, it is understood that representatives from the China Liaison Office have been frequenting Hong Kong crypto gatherings seeking to understand what's going on.

So far, their encounters with Beijing officials on the matter have been friendly, according to those familiar, which is being perceived by local crypto business operators that Beijing — albeit very subtly — may be open to using Hong Kong as a testbed for crypto.

On Feb. 20, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) outlined a new crypto license regime that proposed that all centralized exchanges that operate in the region must be licensed with the regulator.

It also proposed allowing retail traders access to licensed cryptocurrency trading platforms saying public feedback highlighted that denying access to crypto markets may push Hong Kongers to trade on unregulated overseas platforms.