The Hong Kong SFC released the list of ‘Deemed-to-be-licensed’ crypto exchanges today.
Presently, two exchange platforms hold trading licenses in Hong Kong.
The Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong released the list of crypto exchanges that applied for trading licenses in the country. In the list, the Securities Regulator specified eleven exchanges that are deemed to be approved for licenses in the coming days.
The list included leading exchanges Bullish, Crypto.com and WhaleFin. Additionally, other Hong Kong-based exchanges such as HKbitEX and Panther Trade also await licenses. The list also included exchanges without indications of approval in the coming days.
Presently, only two platforms hold trading licenses within the country. OSL Exchange and HashKey Exchange were licensed in 2020 and 2022 respectively. The SFC has also returned license applications of a particular exchange, Meex, while many withdrew their applications.
Notably, prominent exchanges Bybit and OKX are reported to have withdrawn their license applications. Moreover, some of the largest crypto exchanges in the US — Binance, Coinbase and Kraken haven’t applied for a HK license.
Earlier, the SFC had announced June 1st as the deadline for approving crypto exchanges. It stated that on-site inspections will be conducted for the crypto trading platforms before approving them for a license. Additionally, it also stated that the ‘deemed-to-be-licensed’ is a temporary designation before the respective platforms receive their license.
Moreover, exchanges without a license or the ‘deemed-to-be-licensed’ designation cannot operate in Hong Kong. The SFC has stated that a continuation of operating would be considered a ‘criminal offense’. Additionally, it would also be considered as breaching Hong Kong’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.
Is Hong Kong Emerging as a Crypto Hub?
The capital has made multiple announcements within the crypto sector in the past few months. The prominent approval of HK spot ETFs caught global attention, which showed a potential for a huge influx of Asian capital. However, the HK spot BTC and ETH ETFs haven’t recorded positive inflows as of May 31.
Furthermore, the Chinese capital city recently launched FinTax, a crypto-asset tax reporting software for its local users. In relation to that, e-CYN wallets, the pilot version of HK’s app to issue fiat currency in digital versions were launched at the beginning of May. Experts within the community see the developments as HK’s attempt to compete with Dubai and Singapore in emerging as a crypto hub.
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