The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission announced yesterday (18th) that it has issued licenses to 4 virtual asset trading platform applicants 'considered as licensed' under the fast licensing procedure and is reviewing the remaining applications using the same fast licensing procedure.

According to information on the Securities and Futures Commission's official website, the companies licensed on December 18 include:

  • Hong Kong Digital Asset Trading Group Limited, the virtual asset platform is 'HKbitEX';

  • Cloud Account Greater Bay Area Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, the virtual asset platform is 'Accumulus';

  • DFX Labs Company Limited, the virtual asset platform is 'DFX Labs';

  • Thousand Whales Technology (BVI) Limited, the virtual asset platform is 'EX.IO'.

Currently, there are 11 operators on the list of virtual asset trading platform applicants, of which 7 platforms 'considered as licensed' are PantherTrade, Bixin.com, YAX, Bullish, Crypto.com, WhaleFin, and Matrixport HK; as for the three platforms that were already licensed earlier, they are OSL Exchange, HashKey Exchange, and HKVAX.

The Securities and Futures Commission pointed out that after launching the inspection program in June this year, it has completed risk-based on-site inspections for all applicants considered as licensed.

According to the licensing conditions, applicants must complete corrective actions in response to the Securities and Futures Commission's on-site inspection comments before operating within a restricted business scope. Additionally, these operators must also conduct vulnerability assessments and penetration tests through independent third parties and obtain satisfactory results.

Dr. Ye Zhi-heng, Executive Director of the Intermediaries Division of the Securities and Futures Commission, stated: 'The Securities and Futures Commission has always actively communicated with the senior management and ultimate controllers of virtual asset trading platforms.'

This move helps clarify the regulatory standards they should meet and accelerates the licensing process for virtual asset trading platforms. The Securities and Futures Commission is committed to balancing the protection of investor interests and the continued development of Hong Kong's virtual asset ecosystem.

Given the effectiveness of direct communication with senior management and ultimate controllers of virtual asset trading platforms, the Securities and Futures Commission stated that it will continue this practice when appointing external evaluation experts for the second-phase assessment in the future.

Specifically, the Securities and Futures Commission will supervise the entire second-phase assessment process by signing a tripartite agreement with the virtual asset trading platforms and their external evaluation experts, and will lift business scope restrictions once it is satisfied that the second-phase assessment has been completed.

In this regard, the Securities and Futures Commission has also issued a circular to establish a clear roadmap for the licensing procedure of virtual asset trading platforms and to provide more guidelines for the second-phase assessment.

"Four more virtual asset platforms in Hong Kong have been licensed, while the remaining applications are under review according to the 'fast licensing procedure'". This article was first published on (Block Guest).