Crypto exchanges in the Special Administrative Region must apply for licensing before Feb. 29.
Crypto exchanges in Hong Kong have until Feb. 29 to apply for a virtual asset trading platform (VATP) license issued by the city’s Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) or liquidate their business and exit the region within three months.
As of Feb. 26, 18 crypto exchanges have applied for registration with the SFC, including OKX, Bybit, Crypto.com, and the Binance-linked HKVAX. Four other applications have been withdrawn since the licensing regime opened last August. Huobi HK, the Hong Kong subsidiary of crypto exchange Huobi (now HTX), filed a VATP application on Feb. 20 but withdrew it three days later. The exchange did not state why it withdrew the application.
Once licensed, the crypto exchanges can onboard retail investors to trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Various altcoins and stablecoins are currently under review by the SFC for trading approval.
