AI Summary
- Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued new crypto trading licenses in 2025.
- The new licenses will allow YAX and PantherTrade, two cryptocurrency exchanges, to operate in the region.
- The new licenses were handed out after the two entities were placed on the “Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance ” list, ensuring their safety. .
- In Hong Kong, the region’s Securities and Futures Commission has issued new trading licenses to two crypto exchanges, indicating that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulations are rapidly changing. Since late 2024, Hong Kong’s SFC has issued 7 cryptocurrency trading licenses to exchanges and firms, boosting crypto acceptance in the region.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued new crypto trading licenses in 2025.
The new licenses will allow YAX and PantherTrade, two cryptocurrency exchanges, to operate in the region.
The new licenses were handed out after the two entities were placed on the “Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance “ list, ensuring their safety.
Hong Kong issues new digital asset trading licenses
In Hong Kong, the region’s Securities and Futures Commission has issued new trading licenses to two crypto exchanges, indicating that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulations are rapidly changing.
Since late 2024, Hong Kong’s SFC has issued 7 cryptocurrency trading licenses to exchanges and firms, boosting crypto acceptance in the region.
New licenses were given to PantherTrade and YAX in January 2025, two of the first entities of the year to receive them. In 2024, both exchanges were listed under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) Act.
Being protected financial entities, the exchanges have been given the green light to offer cryptocurrency services in a region still affected by some of China’s strict financial policies.
In total, 10 cryptocurrency exchanges have been registered in Hong Kong under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, allowing them to offer digital asset services.
According to the SFC, the top priorities of the agency when it comes to exchanges include safeguarding clients, enhancing global competitiveness, leading financial market transformations, and enhancing institutional resilience.
From Dr. Eric Yip, the SFC’s Executive Director of Intermediaries:
We have been proactively engaging with VATPs’ senior management and ultimate controllers which helps drive home our expected regulatory standards and expedite our licensing process for VATPs.
We aim to strike a balance between safeguarding the interests of investors and facilitating continuous development for the virtual asset ecosystem in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong and China Crypto Policies
In recent years, Hong Kong has slowly opened up to cryptocurrency exchanges and digital assets as new Bitcoin ETFs were greenlit in the region in 2024. Meanwhile, in China, crypto has been restricted and most decentralized financial services banned.
As the US becomes more pro-crypto with Trump’s new executive orders for a US Digital Asset Stockpile, investors believe China may open up to blockchain tech and digital assets, creating a “crypto race” between the two regions.
NEO Smart Economy, a blockchain network created in China, has been dubbed the Ethereum of China and has been the one to watch once crypto restrictions in China loosen up. For Hong Kong, crypto acceptance is on the rise and will continue to grow in 2025.
