Hong Kong’s regulator has announced that it will allow more crypto exchanges to function in the region. According to South China Morning Post reports on December 18th, the securities regulator in Hong Kong has approved the operations of four new cryptocurrency exchanges in the city.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released an updated list that shows that Accumulus GBA Technology (Hong Kong), DFX Labs, Hong Kong Digital Asset EX, and Thousand Whales Technology (BVI) have acquired virtual asset trading platform (VATP) licenses.
The new license issuing comes at a time when Hong Kong has become liberal towards its crypto regulations in order to become a digital asset hub in the future.
Hong Kong’s Aim To Become Crypto Hub
Hong Kong has quickly become a global hub for the issuance and exchange of digital assets, drawing in investors with its increasing liquidity as well as the incentives and regulations offered by an active regulator.
Crypto spot and futures ETFs have flourished as a result of innovation in the industry, and the first blockchain-based, multi-currency green bond in history has also been issued. With the launch of a stablecoin sandbox earlier this year, the market is now expecting more since more digital goods will be released.
Hong Kong Takes Steps To Have Ease in Crypto Operations
In an effort to advance its agenda on virtual assets while balancing consumer protection and financial stability, the Hong Kong government had published a stablecoin bill in the gazette, bringing the proposed regulatory regime one step closer to becoming law.
Additionally the prominent global financial hub had proposed to exempt super-rich people’s investment vehicles, hedge funds, and private equity funds from paying taxes on profits from cryptocurrency, private credit investments, and other alternative assets.
Creating a “favorable environment” that will entice asset managers to set up shop in the area is the goal of this calculated action.
The new plan from Hong Kong aims to address taxation, which is regarded as one of the primary determinants of where asset managers decide to conduct business.
Hong Kong SEC CEO Sheds Light on Crypto Landscape Plans
As UnoCrypto reported earlier, the recent remarks made by Leung Fung-yee, the CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), demonstrate the significant changes taking place in Hong Kong’s financial regulatory landscape.
The SFC’s approach to virtual asset regulation, the CEO underlined, prioritizes security and investor protection measures and concentrates on the products rather than the underlying technology.
A pilot program for tokenized deposits in bond and fund subscriptions is one of the innovative financial products being developed in partnership with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), which is implementing this regulatory philosophy.
By 2025, Hong Kong is expected to have 393.50k cryptocurrency investors. The user penetration rate, or the proportion of the population using cryptocurrencies, is expected to reach 5.25% by 2025 from 5.22% in 2024.