HashKey Exchange has been licensed to offer crypto trading services to retail users in Hong Kong, making it the first exchange to offer such services in the region.
According to an August 3 press statement, the exchange has upgraded its type 1 and 7 licenses to offer crypto trading services to retail investors. Part of the statement reads:
“As an existing Type 1 and Type 7 licensee, HashKey Exchange has successfully completed a simplified process to obtain the license upgrade. The successful license upgrade enables HashKey Exchange to expand its business scope from serving professional investors to retail users.”
Livio Weng, the COO of the HashKey Group, said the license upgrade and regulatory clarity for crypto in Hong Kong would further boost investor confidence. Weng added:
“With the establishment of licensed trading platforms and further clarity of regulatory frameworks in Hong Kong, the industry as a whole will witness increased transparency leading to a significant increase in investor confidence.”
HashKey has opened user pre-registration and rewards those who register with HashKey EcoPoints (HSK).
The move comes a few months after Hong Kong’s new crypto regulation went into effect, opening the door for exchanges to be licensed to retail. Until now, crypto trading has been limited to professional and institutional investors.
The other developments of HashKey
HashKey has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to enable users to seamlessly transact on its platform. The exchange said the partnership would provide users with convenient fiat currency deposit and withdrawal services.
The exchange also announced a brand refresh to reflect its new status as a provider of virtual asset services for retail and institutional firms. The update focuses on ensuring better experiences and security for users.
It noted that the safety of customers’ assets is a priority, with 98% of users’ assets being kept in cold storage, while only 2% are in hot wallets.
In addition, HashKey opened the only compliant over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform in the Asia-Pacific region with the launch of HashKey Brokerage. The virtual OTC platform offers high-net-worth investors engaged in bulk trading access to high liquidity.
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