[Hong Kong requires all exchanges applying for licenses not to have mainland Chinese users and to sign a letter of commitment, resulting in a large number of platforms withdrawing their applications] On June 1, Binance OKX HTX Bybit Gate and others withdrew their applications for Hong Kong licenses. According to Wu, the reason is that the Hong Kong SFC requires all applicants for virtual asset trading platform licenses to sign a letter of commitment, promising that any of its entities cannot have mainland Chinese users in any region. This requirement makes it impossible for traditional offshore exchanges to meet. OKX tried to form an industry alliance to oppose this requirement but ultimately failed. However, industry insiders said that the withdrawn entity can apply again after updating the legal entity or framework in the future, but it should not be possible to apply using a brand similar to the current offshore exchange. According to previous news, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission updated the list of virtual asset trading platforms. According to the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Ordinance, 11 platforms including HKbitEX, PantherTrade, Accumulus, DFX Labs, Bixin.com, xWhale, YAX, Bullish, Crypto.com, WhaleFin, and Matrixport HK were deemed to have been licensed; only 6 platforms including BGE, HKVAX, VDX, bitV, HKX, and bitcoinworld were not deemed to have been licensed in the application list.
