Original | Odaily Planet Daily
Author | Qin Xiaofeng
As the scale of the JPEX crypto platform case expands, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has begun to disclose more information about Virtual Asset Trading Platforms (VATPs) in order to enhance public awareness of anti-fraud and increase information transparency.
On September 29, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission released multiple lists of virtual asset trading platforms on its website: the list of licensed virtual asset trading platforms, the list of virtual asset trading platform applicants, the list of closed virtual asset trading platforms, the list of virtual asset trading platforms treated as licensed, and a special list for suspicious virtual asset trading platforms. Odaily Planet Daily also analyzed the more detailed information behind these lists for readers at the first time.
First is the "list of licensed virtual asset trading platforms," which currently only includes two platforms: OSL Digital Securities Limited (platform: OSL Exchange) and Hash Blockchain Limited (platform: HashKey Exchange).
It is important to note that the current licensing system for virtual asset trading platform operators in Hong Kong is a "dual licensing" system; in addition to the licensing system under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) for "security token" applications, there is another licensing system under the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance (AMLO) for "non-security token" applications. Both OSL Exchange and HashKey Exchange currently hold the former license, which was approved on December 15, 2020, and November 9, 2022, respectively, with no record of the second license.
However, this does not prevent them from providing crypto trading services to the market. For example, OSL was approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in August this year to upgrade its existing license, allowing it to officially provide trading services for mainstream coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum to retail investors; HashKey Exchange also opened BTC/HKD and ETH/HKD trading pairs to retail investors, but other altcoins (such as Avalanche) can only be opened to professional investors.
Second is the "list of virtual asset trading platform applicants," which currently includes four companies: Hong Kong BGE Limited (platform: BGX), Hong Kong Digital Asset EX Limited (platform: HKbitEX), Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange Limited (platform: HKVAX), and Victory Fintech Company Limited (platform: VDX).
The Securities and Futures Commission stated that entities on the list of applicants have not been licensed by the Commission and may not necessarily comply with the Commission's requirements; applications that do not meet the standards will be rejected by the Commission, and the names of the virtual asset trading platform applicants will be removed from the list of applicants and added to the list of removed applicants; the main purpose of publishing this list is to facilitate the public in judging whether virtual asset trading platforms have made false statements about their license applications (such as claiming to have submitted a license application when in fact they have not).
According to Hong Kong media reports, dozens of crypto platforms or listed companies, securities companies, have publicly claimed to be applying, planning to apply, or have already applied for Hong Kong crypto licenses, including: Binance, OKX, ByBit, HTX Exchange, BingX, Bitget, Gate.io, Gate.hk, GF Innovation (00290), New Era Technology (01063), Lion Group Holdings LGHL, Green City Holdings subsidiary Green City Gold, and Bullish under Block.one.
The backgrounds of the four companies currently applying for licenses are as follows:
(1) HKBGE. HKBGE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HKE Holdings (01726), a Hong Kong-listed company, and submitted applications for License No. 1 and License No. 7 last year. The former CEO of HKBGE, Thor Chan, was the co-founder of the now-defunct exchange AAX and its former CEO; in December last year, HKE Holdings announced that Thor Chan had resigned as a director and CEO of HKBGE, and the group members (including HKBGE) had no business relationship with AAX. Subsequently, HKBGE appointed Eu Yeung Kin-nam as CEO, who was the former Chief Operating Officer of HashKey Exchange. Currently, HKBGE is only open to invited professional investors.
(2) HKbitEX. HKbitEX is affiliated with Tai Chi Capital Group and has always positioned itself as "one of the first batch of VATP applicants." Its founder, Gao Han, previously worked at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388) and was involved in the Stock Connect and Bond Connect. After founding HKbitEX, Gao Han recruited several former colleagues from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the Chief Development Officer, Shi Lin, was formerly the co-head of the Listing Review Group at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
In September this year, Tai Chi Capital Group announced the launch of the first real estate fund security token offering (STO) in Hong Kong, and plans to use the token for listing on the HKbitEX virtual asset trading platform if it receives regulatory approval.
(3) HKVAX. HKVAX claimed in August that it had received a preliminary approval notice from the Securities and Futures Commission to conduct regulated activities of Type 1 and Type 7, and will become the third licensed virtual asset trading platform in Hong Kong. HKVAX co-founder and COO, Ho Siu-leung, stated that it would take at least six months to obtain the Type 1 and Type 7 licenses from the Securities and Futures Commission, and plans to launch the platform, OTC off-exchange trading, and other services at that time, but whether to launch STO (security token) will depend on the regulations of the Securities and Futures Commission (Note: The content is claimed by the platform itself and has not been confirmed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission; Odaily Planet Daily searched the official website of the Securities and Futures Commission and did not find the so-called preliminary approval notice for the platform).
The HKVAX website shows that the company has three co-founders, and CEO Wu Weiliang was the Managing Director of the International Department of China International Futures, and is currently the Vice Chairman of the Financial and Treasury Services Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC).
(4) VDX. VDX is a crypto platform under the Hong Kong-listed company Victory Securities (08145), and the company's directors include Gao Juan, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Industry Association. In September this year, Victory Securities announced that its virtual asset trading app is available on the Apple Store and Android system. It is worth noting that its virtual asset trading services are only open to professional investors.
Victory Securities Executive Director Chen Peiquan stated that it is expected that the Securities and Futures Commission will soon announce guidelines for securities firms to open virtual asset trading to retail investors, and according to the expected schedule, Victory Securities may open virtual asset trading to retail investors in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The CEO of Victory Securities, Gao Juan, stated that the company is only connecting to the licensed virtual asset trading platform OSL, and investors can buy and sell cryptocurrencies on that platform through the company. OSL only provides BTC and ETH, and the cryptocurrencies purchased by investors will be held in custody by OSL and insured. The company is also prepared to connect to other licensed exchanges.
In the list published by the Securities and Futures Commission, there are also three blank items: "List of applicants whose license applications have been rejected, refused, or withdrawn"; "List of closed virtual asset trading platforms" listing the names of virtual asset trading platform operators who are required to close within a specified period under the relevant legislation; and "List of virtual asset trading platforms treated as licensed" listing the names of virtual asset trading platform operators treated as licensed as of June 1, 2024.
Finally, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission also released a list of "suspicious virtual asset trading platforms," involving six platforms, namely:
JPEX: Falsely claimed to have obtained licenses to operate virtual asset trading platforms from several overseas regulatory agencies, provided false high returns for some products, and restricted users from withdrawing assets. Website: https://jp-ex.io/
FUBT Exchange, with the same name as the already collapsed and absconded FUBT Exchange, claimed to be a crypto trading platform and provided a false Hong Kong phone number, claiming to have a business presence in Hong Kong. Website: www.fubthk.com
Futu: Impersonated the licensed institution Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited using the same company logo. Websites: https://futu-pro.com and https://futubit.com
EFSPD: Falsely claimed to have obtained approval from the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited to launch crypto tokens and claimed to be regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Website: www.efspd.com
OSL Trading: Impersonated the licensed institution OSL. Website: www.hifly59702.top
arrano: Falsely claimed to be a one-stop platform for NFT and cryptocurrency products. Website: https://arrano.network
The Securities and Futures Commission stated that it will regularly update the above list, and investors should avoid trading virtual assets on unregulated virtual asset trading platforms (including any applicants listed on the list of virtual asset trading platform applicants) to prevent financial risks, as it may be difficult to obtain compensation through legal means.
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