Hong Kong, the fast-evolving crypto hub worldwide, has been embracing digital assets, luring new holders and even companies to set up their workspaces in the region.
As per the most recent information, the Securities and Futures Commission of HK has granted operational licenses to two different crypto trading platforms to lead their operations in the region, these issuance of licenses are the first issued in 2025.
The licensing process in Hong Kong started in the middle of the previous years, and to date, it has granted licenses to seven such companies or platforms offering services related to digital assets.
PantherTrade and YAX are the exchanges that received operational licenses on Monday, January 27, 2025. Both these entities are registered under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO), as per the public records maintained by the government of Hong Kong.
As per the available information, there are ten digital assets exchanges that have been registered in Hong Kong under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, allowing them to operate as virtual assets trading platforms.
The SFC designing pro-crypto environment
The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has been constantly working to ease the region’s structure for cryptocurrencies and with this pro stance, the regulators have received a positive response from the companies, entities, and institutions over the registration process.
Earlier on January 22, 2025, Todayq reported citing Ye Zhiheng that Hong Kong is planning for a new crypto virtual assets license, the SFC has inspected all the applicants, further assuring that all of them have been notified about the requirements which will help them to gain a license.
The Central Bank of Hong Kong recently indicated that it will assist banks in using disruptive ledger technology in order to keep up with the changing trends of the financial system.
It is important to note that although the use of blockchain and similar technologies has grown astronomically, these technologies’ greatest potential emerged after the broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
In order to support banks in implementing distributed ledger technology, the Central Bank of Hong Kong launched its “Supervisory Incubator for Distributed Ledger Technology” on Dec 8, 2024.
It is worth noting that since the past few quarters, a major boost in the number of centralized exchanges has been noted with some pre-established acquiring startups and newly debuted firms. Also, the trading volume of CEXs has reached new heights in 2024, yet the volume remains slow on decentralized exchanges.
Crypto market price updates
Until publishing the cryptocurrency market capitalization was $3.51 trillion with a loss of 1.98 percent in the past 24 hours and the trading volume was $112 billion with a decline of 26.01 percent.
Bitcoin prices seem to be stuck below the mark of $105k, when writing it was exchanging hands at $102,549 with a decline of 2.13 percent, according to data from CoinMarketCap BTC highest traded at $109,114 in the past 30 days, which is its all-time high and in the same frame its lowest trading price was $89,260.
