Hong Kong’s financial regulator is expected to create a dedicated whitelist of tokens that retail users will be allowed to trade.
The new token whitelist was proposed on Wednesday by Julia Leung, CEO of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), during a panel discussion in Hong Kong. Leung did not reveal which specific tokens he had in mind for the proposed whitelist, but said that his agency will now seek public opinion about guardrails for retail crypto trading.
As a starting point, it is expected that at least bitcoin (btc) And Ethereum (ETH) Will make the list, given that the city already has approved ETFs that are backed by two cryptocurrencies.
“Virtual Assets have gone from Peak to Low in the past year [price] Level. The good thing is that when the froth is skimmed from the system as a platform and some tokens collapse, it focuses the minds of investors and sellers on investor protection,” Leung was quoted as saying reuters As they are saying during the discussion.
He added that the SFC will start accepting applications for licenses under its new Virtual Asset Service Provider (VSAP) regime in mid-2024. From that point on, all crypto exchanges operating in the city will need a license, or risk fines or prison. sentence.
During the discussion, Leung also noted that tokenized real assets, including tokenized stocks, would fall under the jurisdiction of his agency.
Hong Kong’s Status as a Crypto Hub
The move to create a dedicated list of accepted tokens for retail users comes after Paul Chan, Hong Kong’s financial secretary, reiterated an ambition for the city as recently as this week. Become an International Crypto Hub,
“As a few crypto exchanges collapsed one after another, Hong Kong became a quality standing point for digital asset corporates,” Chan said at a Web3-focused symposium in Hong Kong. He said Hong Kong has a strong regulatory framework that “matches international norms and standards”, but also restricts “free-riders”.
The comments from the financial secretary followed Leung from the SFC in November last year, providing further evidence that Hong Kong is serious about giving the greenlight to its crypto ambitions. Retail access to exchange-traded funds ,ETFs) that tracks crypto futures.
,[The SFC is] actively looking to establish a system to authorize ETFs that provide mainstream virtual assets with appropriate investor guardrails,” Leung said at the time.
Shortly after, two ETFs – CSOP Asset Management’s Bitcoin Futures ETF and Ether Futures ETF – debut in hong kong As the first of its kind in the city.
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