Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission urges unlicensed digital asset operators to cease operations in Hong Kong by the end of this month

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong issued a press release on Monday, the 5th, reminding investors to only trade virtual assets on platforms licensed by the SFC. They advised verifying whether a trading platform is listed on the SFC’s “Licensed Virtual Asset Trading Platform List” or “Virtual Asset Trading Platform Applicant List”.

The SFC indicated that, under the transitional arrangements for the regulation of virtual asset trading platforms, platforms operating in Hong Kong that did not submit license applications by February 29th of this year must cease operations in Hong Kong by May 31st. Investors are required to check the regulatory status of trading platforms starting from March 1st. If a platform is not listed on the aforementioned lists, investors should prepare early by May 31st, such as closing their accounts on these platforms or transferring to licensed platforms for trading.

The SFC also cautioned that trading on unlicensed platforms may leave investors unprotected. Moreover, due to uncertainty over whether applicants listed on the “Virtual Asset Trading Platform Applicant List” will be approved, trading on these platforms also carries risks.

According to the SFC’s list of license applicants, as of the publication of this article, a total of 14 companies are applying for virtual asset trading platform licenses, including the Hong Kong subsidiary of OKX and Bybit (operating under the company name Spark Fintech Limited). The virtual asset trading platforms that have been formally licensed by the SFC are HashKey Exchange and OSL Exchange.

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