The Hong Kong government opened the application for Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licenses on June 1st last year. They announced on the 5th of this month that VASPs must submit their license applications by February 29th this year, or they must cease operations in Hong Kong by May 31st. In order to meet the deadline, Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency exchange, has also submitted an application. According to public information from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong, Crypto.com was added to the list of license applicants on February 9th, under the company name “Foris DAX HK Limited”. If successful, this license will allow Crypto.com to legally provide virtual currency trading services to investors in Hong Kong.
VASPs that have submitted license applications. Source: SFC website
As the deadline approaches, SFC data shows that the virtual asset trading platforms currently granted licenses are HashKey Exchange and OSL Exchange. There are 17 companies still awaiting VASP license review, including Crypto.com. Other platforms that submitted applications in February include bitV, YAX, and Bullish. Previously, there were also OKX, Bybit, PantherTrade, BGE, HKbitEX, HKVAX, and VDX.
It is worth mentioning that Meex, a platform that was included in the list on December 10th last year, had its application rejected on February 7th. In addition, well-known platforms such as Binance, Huobi, and Gate.io, which were previously reported to take action, are currently not listed in the SFC’s announcement.
The SFC previously stated that the period from June 1st, 2023 to May 31st, 2024 is the transitional period for license applications. If the SFC determines that existing virtual asset trading platforms meet the conditions for being granted licenses, these platforms will be automatically considered as having obtained a license from June 1st this year until their license applications are approved, withdrawn, or rejected.
Related Reports:
SFC: Exchanges without licenses “must cease operations”, no sign of Huobi, Bybit, OKX in the application list.
Last Month Countdown: Hong Kong VASP license application deadline at the end of February, which exchanges have not taken action?
In-depth Analysis: Hong Kong’s Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Licensing System (Implemented on June 1st, 2023)