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SFC CEO Julia Leung mentioned 11 candidates had undergone an on-site evaluate.
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HKVAX obtained regulatory approval final week, the third change in Hong Kong to accomplish that.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) plans to approve extra cryptocurrency exchanges to function in Hong Kong by the top of the yr, in accordance to its CEO Julia Leung.
Talking on Oct. 6 with native outlet HK01, Leung mentioned that 11 of the platforms which have utilized for a license have now undergone on-site critiques. She expects additional progress of their functions by the top of the yr.
Her feedback got here following the approval of native change HKVAX’s software final week. The corporate, which goals to launch its platform in This fall this yr, is the third change within the metropolis to obtain regulatory approval.
HashKey and OSL even have working licenses, which have been upgraded from licenses they already held underneath the earlier regulatory regime.
Bullish, the dad or mum firm of CoinDesk, has additionally utilized for a license.
The SFC didn’t reply to a request for clarification about what number of platforms have utilized. One page on its web site lists 11 candidates for the licensing regime, whereas another lists 16.
The promise of future approvals comes after criticism that Hong Kong’s present regime is simply too strict, probably damaging town’s purpose of changing into a crypto and web3 hub.
In August, a report recommended the regulator had discovered “unsatisfactory practices” at some exchanges. Specifically, it acknowledged that “among the crypto corporations are overly reliant on a handful of executives to oversee the custody of consumer property, whereas others aren’t correctly guarding in opposition to cybercrime dangers.”
After failing to safe functions from huge names like Coinbase – regardless of the change being personally invited to arrange in Hong Kong by Legislative Council member Johnny Ng – different worldwide firms have withdrawn their functions. (One exception is Crypto.com, which stays on the applicant listing.)
Amongst those that withdrew are OKX and Bybit, each of which canceled their functions in Could and didn’t disclose the explanations for doing so. The South China Morning Publish reported that one main issue might have been an SFC discover that they have to forestall mainland Chinese language residents from accessing their companies.
In an opinion piece within the Hong Kong Economic Journal shortly after OKX withdrew its software, lawmaker Duncan Chiu warned that the approval situations borrowed ideas from conventional finance that he believed have been too strict to apply to web3. He added that the remaining candidates have been “small in scale.”
On the identical time, lawmakers have argued that the SFC additionally bears the brunt of criticism when rip-off exchanges exploit Hongkongers. It got here underneath hearth final yr for the collapse of JPEX, a rogue change that has left over 2,600 Hongkongers some $200 million out of pocket. Over 70 individuals have been arrested as a part of a police investigation into the change however to date no person has been charged.
JPEX’s shutdown led to modifications in how the SFC shares details about exchanges with the general public. Amongst these modifications, it began publishing lists of which firms had utilized for licenses – one thing that they had beforehand declined to reveal – and itemizing suspicious platforms on its web site.
Together with JPEX, a number of chains of OTC crypto buying and selling storefronts linked to it have been raided and shut down by the police, prompting calls to regulate OTC buying and selling. Leung mentioned the SFC has additionally been in search of business opinion on licensing for cryptocurrency OTC and custody companies.
