Hong Kong to Start Allowing Retail Crypto Trading in March Next Year: Report

Hong Kong is relaxing its crypto regularisation to let retail investors to commercialized integer assets directly. A licensing authorities for crypto platforms that allows retail crypto trading is reportedly acceptable to beryllium enforced successful March adjacent year.

Hong Kong Nears Allowing Retail Crypto Trading

Hong Kong is reportedly relaxing its strict cryptocurrency regularisation with a program to let retail crypto trading, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing radical acquainted with the matter.

A mandatory licensing regime for cryptocurrency platforms that allows retail crypto trading is acceptable to beryllium enforced successful March adjacent year, the work conveyed, elaborating:

Hong Kong plans to legalize retail trading for crypto starting successful March aft years of skepticism — a stark opposition to mainland China’s ban.

Moreover, regulators are seeking to let retail exchanges to database ample cryptocurrencies, similar bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), the quality outlet added. The listing rules are apt to see criteria specified arsenic the token’s marketplace value, liquidity, and inclusion successful third-party crypto indexes.

Gary Tiu, enforcement manager astatine crypto steadfast BC Technology Group, commented:

Introducing mandatory licensing successful Hong Kong is conscionable 1 of the important things regulators person to do. They can’t everlastingly efficaciously adjacent the needs of retail investors.

Michel Lee, enforcement president of integer plus fiscal services radical Hashkey, explained that Hong Kong has been trying to make an all-encompassing crypto regime, citing tokenized stocks and bonds arsenic a perchance much important conception successful the future. “Just trading integer assets connected its ain is not the goal. The extremity is truly to turn the ecosystem,” helium was quoted arsenic saying.

Hong Kong’s apical fiscal regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), introduced a voluntary licensing authorities successful 2018. It restricted crypto trading platforms to clients with portfolios of astatine slightest HK$8 cardinal ($1 million). However, the pugnacious regularisation turned distant galore crypto businesses and lone 2 firms — BC Technology Group and Hashkey — were approved.

Many radical are skeptical of the caller crypto regulation, however. Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong co-founder Leonhard Weese shared:

The benignant of conversations I’ve had was that radical inactive fearfulness there’ll beryllium a precise strict licensing regime. Even if they’re capable to woody straight with retail users, they’re inactive not going to beryllium arsenic charismatic oregon arsenic competitory arsenic overseas platforms.

The SFC’s manager of licensing and caput of the fintech unit, Elizabeth Wong, said past week: “We’ve had 4 years of acquisition successful regulating this manufacture … We deliberation that this whitethorn beryllium really a bully clip to truly deliberation cautiously astir whether we volition proceed with this nonrecreational investor-only requirement.” She noted that Hong Kong could besides authorize exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to connection vulnerability to mainstream crypto assets.

What bash you deliberation astir Hong Kong allowing retail cryptocurrency trading? Let america cognize successful the comments conception below.

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