Hong Kong to speed up licensing of crypto exchanges

What’s new? The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will launch an advisory panel early next year to deal with the fast-track licensing of crypto trading platforms. The announcement was made by Joseph Chan, the secretary of the Financial Services and the Treasury (FSTB). The initiative is part of efforts to turn a special administrative region of the PRC into a regional crypto hub.

Press release

What else is known? Hong Kong has different legislation from mainland China, where crypto transactions and mining were banned until a few years ago. In June 2023, the local government officially introduced a licensing regime for crypto exchanges to serve retail customers. Currently, HashKey Exchange, OSL Exchange, and HKVAX have permits to operate.

The authorities are now working on introducing a regulatory regime for fiat currency-pegged stablecoins that will require issuers to be licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), which serves as the central bank. The FSTB plans to introduce a bill to this effect in the Legislative Council by the end of December, Joseph Chan said.

The regulators will also introduce a draft law on licensing custodial crypto companies next year.

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Last month, the HKMA launched a three-year tokenized bond issuance subsidy program to promote the development of the digital securities market, at the same time it announced the abolition of the crypto profits tax to attract institutional investors.

On November 15, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) launched bitcoinand Ethereum price indices to provide a single benchmark price for crypto assets across time zones in Asia.

Back in April, HKEX listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for bitcoin and Ethereum from local investment firms, with ETH funds here approved three months earlier than in the United States.

In June, Johnny Ng, a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, followed Donald Trump in proposing the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve. After Trump’s victory, other countries began to explore this possibility.