Hong Kong crypto exchange licenses are now costing applicants several million dollars, a significant decrease from the $25 million price tag seen a year ago.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Livio Wang, the chief operating officer of HashKey Group, stated that obtaining crypto exchange licenses in Hong Kong now costs “not necessarily tens of millions of dollars, but certainly tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.” Wang highlighted that the costs associated with preparing license review materials differ from those incurred during the operational stage.
As of June 1, Hong Kong regulators have cracked down on unlicensed crypto exchanges in the city, threatening criminal charges for noncompliance. Presently, more than 11 firms have been granted the “deemed to be licensed” status, with HashKey and OSL being the only two fully licensed exchanges from last year.
During the interview, Wang disclosed that since its inception, HashKey Exchange has managed $500 million in user assets and facilitated $440 billion in cumulative trades. He also mentioned a significant increase in activated customers, with a 267% rise from the previous week and a tripling in the number of newly activated customers.
In April, following the footsteps of Coinbase, HashKey established a global exchange in Bermuda to cater to international users. Unlike its Hong Kong-based counterpart, HashKey Global will not serve Hong Kong, China, the United States, or several other regions.
The implementation of Hong Kong’s exchange licensing system faced setbacks last year when an unlicensed crypto exchange, JPEX, duped investors of $166 million before collapsing in September 2023.
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