Hong Kong Grants Crypto License to Victory Fintech, Expands Regulated Digital Asset Market

TheNewsCrypto2026-02-17 tarihinde yayınlandı2026-02-17 tarihinde güncellendi

Özet

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has granted a cryptocurrency trading license to Victory Fintech, a publicly listed financial services company. This marks the first such license issued since June 2025, bringing the total number of licensed crypto trading platforms in Hong Kong to 12. The city introduced a strict crypto licensing regime in 2023, requiring all virtual asset trading platforms to obtain SFC approval. Due to stringent compliance requirements, major global exchanges like OKX and Bybit withdrew their applications in 2024. Unlicensed operations have been treated as a criminal offense since June 2024. Regulators are gradually expanding permitted crypto services, now allowing licensed brokers to offer virtual asset margin financing—initially only with BTC and ETH as collateral—and perpetual contracts to professional investors under strict guidelines. Hong Kong aims to balance innovation with investor protection, maintaining a tightly controlled regulatory environment. Future plans include introducing draft legislation in 2026 to regulate crypto advisory services. Currently, no stablecoin issuers have been approved by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved a license to a cryptocurrency trading platform for Victory Fintech, which is a publicly listed financial service company. Since June 2025, this was the first license issued by SFC, with a total of 12 licensed crypto trading platforms in Hong Kong.

Strict Crypto Rules of Hong Kong

Hong Kong introduced its crypto licensing regime in 2023. Under this framework, all the virtual asset trading platforms must obtain formal approval from the SFC to operate, which makes this system one of the strictest among other global hubs. Major global exchanges like OKX and Bybit withdrew their applications in 2024 due to the strict compliance requirements, and since June 2024, the unlicensed crypto platform in Hong Kong has been treated as a criminal offense.

The approval for Victory Fintech came right after the Hong Kong regulators gradually expanded permitted crypto services. Recently, SFC announced that the licensed brokers can now offer virtual asset margin financing, and only BTC and ETH are initially approved as collateral. Now platforms can also offer perpetual contracts to professional investors under strict guidelines. This shows that Hong Kong is carefully broadening the crypto products in the market under tight control.

Future regulation plans

Hong Kong regulators are planning to implement more rules. In January, Christopher Hui, who was the Financial Services and Treasury secretary, announced that authorities are planning to introduce draft legislation in 2026 to regulate the firms offering crypto advisory services. However, right now, Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority has not yet approved any stablecoin issuers.

Hong Kong aims to balance innovations with strong investor protection by approving a license to Victory Fintech. Hong Kong remains with strict but structured crypto regulations, with only fully compliant firms allowed to operate.

Highlighted Crypto News:

Trezor and Ledger Users Targeted by Fraudulent Physical Mail Scams

İlgili Sorular

QWhat is the significance of Victory Fintech receiving a crypto license from Hong Kong's SFC?

AVictory Fintech is the first company to receive a crypto trading license from Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) since June 2025, bringing the total number of licensed platforms to 12, which expands the regulated digital asset market in the region.

QWhy did major global exchanges like OKX and Bybit withdraw their applications in Hong Kong?

AOKX and Bybit withdrew their applications due to the strict compliance requirements of Hong Kong's crypto licensing regime, which mandates formal SFC approval for all virtual asset trading platforms to operate legally.

QWhat new services can licensed brokers in Hong Kong now offer according to recent SFC announcements?

ALicensed brokers can now offer virtual asset margin financing with BTC and ETH initially approved as collateral, and they can also provide perpetual contracts to professional investors under strict guidelines.

QWhat future regulatory plans did Christopher Hui announce for Hong Kong's crypto market?

AChristopher Hui, the Financial Services and Treasury secretary, announced that authorities plan to introduce draft legislation in 2026 to regulate firms offering crypto advisory services.

QHow does Hong Kong's approach to crypto regulation balance innovation and investor protection?

AHong Kong aims to balance innovation with strong investor protection by maintaining strict, structured crypto regulations that allow only fully compliant firms, like Victory Fintech, to operate in the market.

İlgili Okumalar

The Impossible Trilemma Is Basically a Pseudo-Problem

The article argues that the core limitation of blockchain technology is not the scalability trilemma, but its fundamental lack of privacy, which acts as a barrier to institutional capital. It defines blockchain as a slow, expensive, shared computer whose primary value is "permissionlessness" (no administrator) and verifiable trust. While this is ideal for native financial assets like stable币, which now process trillions, two critical flaws remain for mainstream adoption: regulatory legitimacy and a default transparency that leaks all financial activity. The author contends that transparency is not a feature but a tax, quantified through MEV extraction, making the public ledger unusable for serious institutions. However, modern cryptography, specifically zero-knowledge proofs, now offers a solution: "provable privacy." This allows users to prove compliance (e.g., solvency, KYC) without revealing underlying data. This fusion of privacy and auditability resolves the transparency-compliant privacy-compliance dichotomy, enabling a purely upgraded system where transactions are verified but not broadcasted. Closing these flaws is presented as the essential bridge to onboard the next wave of trillions in capital.

marsbit8 saat önce

The Impossible Trilemma Is Basically a Pseudo-Problem

marsbit8 saat önce

The "Impossible Triad" Is Fundamentally a Pseudo-Problem

The article argues that blockchain's fundamental limitation is not the scalability trilemma (decentralization, scalability, security), which has been largely solved, but the lack of **privacy** and, until recently, clear **legitimacy**. Blockchain is described as a slow, expensive, globally shared computer whose core value is censorship resistance and verifiability. While ideal for native digital assets like money (e.g., stablecoins), its default transparency acts as a **tax**, exposing all transactions and enabling MEV extraction, which deters serious institutional capital. Simultaneously, its permissionless nature created regulatory ambiguity. The piece contends that **privacy** is the missing critical feature. It rejects the false choice between total transparency and complete anonymity. Modern cryptography (like zero-knowledge proofs) enables **compliant privacy**: users can prove facts (solvency, KYC status, compliance) without revealing the underlying sensitive data (specific holdings, identities). This preserves auditability for regulators and eliminates the leak of financial information. With recent regulatory progress (e.g., the GENIUS Act) addressing legitimacy, adding default, provably compliant privacy becomes a pure upgrade. It transforms blockchain from a costly, public ledger into a confidential settlement layer, finally bridging the gap to mainstream institutional and individual adoption of on-chain finance.

链捕手8 saat önce

The "Impossible Triad" Is Fundamentally a Pseudo-Problem

链捕手8 saat önce

Optical Chips: Collective Capacity Expansion

The global optical chip industry is experiencing a massive wave of expansion driven by surging AI data center demand. Major players across the US, Japan, Europe, and China are aggressively investing to ramp up production capacity. In the US, Coherent is expanding its 6-inch Indium Phosphide (InP) semiconductor fab in Texas, supported by CHIPS Act funding and a $2 billion strategic investment from NVIDIA. Lumentum is building a new factory for InP optical devices, and Nokia is scaling its advanced photonic chip packaging and testing capabilities. NVIDIA's investments aim to secure future supply of critical lasers and optical interconnect products for AI infrastructure. Japan's JX Advanced Metals, a leading InP substrate supplier, plans a multi-billion yen investment to increase its capacity 7-10 times, strengthening its grip on the crucial upstream materials market. In Europe, IQE and Tower Semiconductor settled a patent dispute and signed a multi-year InP epitaxial wafer supply agreement, highlighting that next-generation silicon photonics platforms will integrate high-performance InP components. STMicroelectronics and Sivers Semiconductors are also expanding silicon photonics production and partnerships. China is rapidly building out its domestic supply chain. Dongshan Precision's subsidiary, Source Photonics, announced a $12 billion project to expand optical chip and module production. Companies like Sanan Optoelectronics and Yunnan Germanium are scaling up InP chip manufacturing and substrate production, moving towards vertical integration from materials to modules. While debate continues around the exact future architecture—whether CPO (Co-Packaged Optics), NPO, or pluggables will dominate—analysts like Morgan Stanley argue the underlying driver is unchangeable: the explosive growth in bandwidth demand. This will inevitably increase the volume of optical engines, lasers, and related content per GPU, regardless of the final technical path. The competition for "more light" in the AI era has intensified into a global, full-chain capacity race.

marsbit11 saat önce

Optical Chips: Collective Capacity Expansion

marsbit11 saat önce

Stablecoins Finally Find Real Yield: An In-Depth Look at On-Chain Reinsurance Re | A Conversation with Re Founder Karan Saroya

Stablecoin Real Yield Found: A Deep Dive into On-Chain Reinsurance with Re's Karan Saroya As stablecoin supply exceeds $170 billion, the search for sustainable, non-speculative yield intensifies. Re, an on-chain reinsurance platform, provides an answer: connecting stablecoin capital to the trillion-dollar traditional reinsurance market. Re operates as a regulated reinsurer, accepting stablecoin deposits as collateral to back US insurance companies. These insurers pay premiums, generating yield that flows back to on-chain depositors. Currently supporting 35 insurers and underwriting $500 million, Re projects scaling to over $1 billion soon. Key insights from a Bankless podcast with founder Karan Saroya and investor Avichal of Electric Capital: 1. **Uncorrelated, Real-World Yield:** Re offers stablecoin holders access to reinsurance returns (targeting 12-14%+), an asset class entirely separate from crypto or equity markets. 2. **Operational Efficiency via Smart Contracts:** Re replaces traditional, labor-intensive capital fundraising with smart contracts, allowing a ~12-person team to compete with industry giants. 3. **Regulatory Leverage:** For every $1 of collateral, regulations allow backing $5-7 in written premiums. This leverage amplifies returns from the underlying risk-free rate. 4. **DeFi Integration:** Depositors receive receipt tokens, which can be used in protocols like Morpho for "looping," potentially pushing yields to 18-20%+. 5. **The "DeFi Mullet" Model:** A compliant front-end (regulated reinsurer) paired with a decentralized back-end (smart contracts, DeFi capital markets). 6. **RE Governance Token:** Modeled on Lloyd's of London, the token governs the central capital pool's allocation, counterparty acceptance, and parameters. 7. **Real Economic Impact:** Capital funds real-world productivity (factories, clinics, businesses) via insurance, moving beyond crypto's internal loops. The discussion highlights a pivotal moment: DeFi's supply-side infrastructure is now met by real demand for productive yield, potentially kickstarting a flywheel where vast on-chain stablecoin capital seeks these real-world returns.

链捕手12 saat önce

Stablecoins Finally Find Real Yield: An In-Depth Look at On-Chain Reinsurance Re | A Conversation with Re Founder Karan Saroya

链捕手12 saat önce

1996 or 1999? Walsh's First Test is 'How to View AI'

"1996 or 1999? Wall's First Big Test Is 'How to View AI'" Federal Reserve Chairman Wall's initial challenge is not whether to raise or cut rates, but a more fundamental judgment: what kind of boom is the current AI boom? This will determine the Fed's policy path and define his legacy. Economics is split between two opposing views, according to reporter Nick Timiraos. One sees imminent productivity gains that will increase supply and cool inflation, allowing the Fed to hold steady. The other argues that while productivity benefits are distant, demand shocks are here now, and waiting for data confirmation risks missing the intervention window, forcing sharper rate hikes later. Wall has signaled a leaning toward the first view, echoing 1996-era Alan Greenspan, who embraced strong, productivity-driven growth without fear of inflation. However, Wall faces a different macro environment than Greenspan did, with tariff pressures, expanding fiscal deficits, and diminishing globalization benefits, which could force more significant inflation pressures even if AI benefits materialize. Wall's logic, expressed before taking office, is that AI-driven productivity gains won't show in official data for years. If the Fed waits for confirmation, it might mistakenly tighten policy and choke off the very growth that could suppress inflation. This argues for using forward-looking narratives over lagging data. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee presents a key counter-argument. He distinguishes between expected and unexpected productivity booms. A widely anticipated boom, like the current AI wave, can cause people to spend future wealth gains in advance, overheating the economy before productivity actually rises, thus requiring preemptive rate hikes. He cites rising costs for AI data centers as evidence of such overheating. Fed Governor Christopher Waller offers a rebuttal to Goolsbee, noting the "expected spending" mechanism only works if people can borrow against future income, which many households cannot do due to borrowing constraints. Wall also faces a paradox related to his desire to reduce the Fed's use of "forward guidance" (pre-announcing policy moves). This practice was established in 1999 when Greenspan began signaling hikes to avoid market shocks. If the economy follows a less optimistic path, Wall may be forced to choose between using the guidance he wants to abolish or risking market volatility by staying silent. The ultimate question defining Wall's first major test remains: Is this 1996 or 1999?

marsbit13 saat önce

1996 or 1999? Walsh's First Test is 'How to View AI'

marsbit13 saat önce

İşlemler

Spot

Futures