Hong Kong Adopts Crypto for Individual Investors

Hong Kong, which had a negative view of cryptocurrencies in the Far East until last year, but suddenly turned 180 degrees and accepted Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, is accelerating its steps in this sense. The Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong, which is stated to be used as a “testing ground” by China, completed its consultation on cryptocurrencies that it started in February and announced the results of the study.

No surprising details were given in the statement and it was seen that there was no obstacle in front of the new regulation rules that will be effective as of June. With these new rules, a small number of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether, will be officially opened to individual investors’ transactions. The Hong Kong regulator has set some criteria for cryptocurrencies that individual investors can “trade” with. These included features such as having a large volume on a global scale and not being controlled by a particular company.

Speaking to Bloomberg, OKX chief commercial officer Lennix Lai said that secure and compliant retail trading is an important area of the digital asset ecosystem and he thinks this idea will come to the fore as a result of the consultation.

Especially in the USA, Malaysia and the Philippines, negative steps have been taken regarding cryptocurrencies recently. While the SEC is constantly filing investment contract lawsuits against crypto companies in the US, yesterday the Malaysian regulator asked the Huobi exchange to stop trading in the country. The Huobi side, on the other hand, announced that it has not operated in Malaysia since 2022. In the Philippines, a suspension decision was made for a branch of the US Gemini stock exchange. Strict regulation rules are also noteworthy in Singapore, which is struggling to become a cryptocurrency center in the Far East with Hong Kong. Individual investors in the country are not welcomed to make crypto transactions, but definite rules on this issue have not yet come.