1 month ago
A regulatory reappraisal earlier this twelvemonth recovered weaknesses successful immoderate exchanges’ cyber defenses, prompting the SFC to acceptable caller custody standards for licensed platforms.
Aug 15, 2025, 8:20 a.m.
Hong Kong’s securities watchdog rolled out caller custody requirements for licensed crypto exchanges, reinforcing its pledge to support lawsuit assets arsenic the metropolis advances its bid to go Asia’s integer plus hub.
In a circular issued Friday, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) acceptable minimum standards for licensed virtual plus trading platforms (VATPs) covering elder absorption responsibility, acold wallet operations, the usage of third-party wallet solutions and real-time menace monitoring.
The determination comes aft the regulator’s targeted reappraisal earlier this twelvemonth recovered “inadequacies” successful immoderate existent exchanges' cybersecurity and custody controls. The guidelines besides signifier the ground of expectations for virtual plus custodians much broadly.
By coupling merchandise enlargement with hard rules connected plus protection, Hong Kong is looking to differentiate itself from determination rival Singapore, which has taken a much restrictive stance connected retail crypto services.
The announcement ties straight into the Infrastructure and Safeguards pillars of the SFC’s ASPIRe strategy, unveiled successful February astatine CoinDesk's Consensus 2025 successful Hong Kong, which outlines a five-pronged program to code liquidity fragmentation, regulatory arbitrage, and marketplace volatility portion expanding the scope of regulated products and services.
The custody propulsion follows a bid of regulatory moves this twelvemonth aimed astatine widening marketplace entree portion tightening oversight.
In February, the regulator announced caller licensing regimes for over-the-counter trading and custody services, alongside a reappraisal of derivatives and borderline trading for virtual assets. In April, it greenlit staking services for licensed exchanges and funds, albeit nether strict plus power and hazard disclosure requirements.
Sam Reynolds
Sam Reynolds is simply a elder newsman based successful Asia. Sam was portion of the CoinDesk squad that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb grant successful the breaking quality class for sum of FTX's collapse. Prior to CoinDesk, helium was a newsman with Blockworks and a semiconductor expert with IDC.
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What to know:
- U.S. banking groups are petitioning lawmakers to marque changes to the stablecoin instrumentality known arsenic the GENIUS Act, and user groups joined them for 1 of the requests — aligning associations that are typically connected other sides of argumentation issues.
- In 1 letter, slope lobbyists and the user groups asked to chopped a proviso successful the instrumentality that could let state-chartered uninsured depository institutions a concern vantage against rivals, and successful another, the bankers inquire that stablecoin affiliates beryllium stopped from offering yield.
- The lobbyists are asking that aboriginal crypto marketplace operation authorities beryllium utilized to overhaul the caller stablecoin law.
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