- Hong Kong plans to grant licenses to 11 cryptocurrency exchanges, together with Crypto.com and Bullish.
- The deadline for exchanges to develop into licensed or “deemed licensed” is June 1.
- Giant firms akin to Binance, OKX and Coinbase didn’t apply for licenses.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) has introduced that 11 digital asset buying and selling platforms (VATPs) are able to obtain formal licenses, one yr after town launched new laws geared toward boosting the cryptocurrency business.
Excessive-profile platforms akin to Crypto.com and Bullish, recognized as “deemed to be authorised” within the SFC's latest replace, are among the many candidates near receiving authorisation. These exchanges, recognized for his or her giant buying and selling volumes globally, have now moved a step nearer to completely working beneath Hong Kong's regulatory framework.
Nevertheless, not all main firms have utilized for licenses in Hong Kong. Exchanges akin to OKX and Bybit have withdrawn their functions, whereas the world's largest alternate, Binance, didn’t apply. Main U.S.-based platforms Coinbase World and Kraken have additionally given up on searching for licenses.
The SFC set a deadline of June 1 for the alternate to acquire a license or be deemed eligible. To proceed working and serving native traders, the alternate should be categorized as no less than “deemed to be licensed.” If the SFC verifies continued compliance with laws, a full license shall be issued.
Hong Kong's efforts to develop into a crypto-asset hub started in late 2022 as a part of a broader effort to reposition itself as a world monetary heart. Hong Kong's efforts to draw the crypto business embody increasing the record of licensed exchanges, introducing spot bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), regulating stablecoins and growing a framework for issuing digital bonds on tokenization platforms.
Hong Kong, particularly, is dealing with competitors from different jurisdictions akin to Dubai and Singapore for the title of prime digital asset heart. Round two dozen entities utilized for cryptocurrency alternate licenses by the deadline of Feb. 29. At the moment, there are solely two totally licensed VATPs in Hong Kong: HashKey Trade and OSL Group.
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