In less than a year since crypto exchanges were approved by regulators in Hong Kong, both traditional financial institutions and brokerages have been eager to obtain licenses for trading digital assets. Tiger Brokers, a Chinese stock brokerage, recently upgraded its Type 1 Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) to include crypto trading for professional investors and financial institutions. The firm currently has 865,500 funded accounts with a total of $18.9 billion in managed assets. Tiger Brokers plans to expand its offerings to retail clients once it receives approval from the SFC. Residents of Hong Kong will then be able to trade virtual assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum alongside stocks, options, futures, funds, and ETFs through the Tiger Trade platform.
Tiger Brokers is also considering listing additional digital assets, including altcoins, pending regulatory approval. The firm has an international expansion strategy in place for licensed markets such as Australia, the U.S., Singapore, Hong Kong, the U.K., and New Zealand. Victory Securities, another Hong Kong brokerage, obtained a license from the SFC in November to offer crypto trading services to retail investors. The company reported that virtual asset transactions and the number of new customers more than doubled in the third quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter. To incentivize new customers to choose compliant and safe virtual asset trading services, Victory Securities plans to launch various trading discounts in the future.
OSL, a licensed Hong Kong crypto exchange, partnered with Interactive Brokers on November 28, 2023, to offer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading to retail investors through its platform. Bybit, a crypto exchange, has also submitted a retail trading license application in Hong Kong. However, Web3 firms may need to invest as much as $25 million in corporate infrastructure and compliance to meet the requirements for license approval. HashKey Exchange is planning to onboard market makers to enhance liquidity.