Author: RWA Research Institute
In the summer of 2025, the transformation of Hong Kong's financial market towards cryptocurrency is accelerating.
CMB International Securities has become the first Chinese bank-affiliated brokerage to obtain a virtual asset trading license; Victory Securities announced that its cryptocurrency trading volume has exceeded HKD 10 billion in the past 12 months, maintaining its top position in the local market, and unveiled a three-year development strategy centered on being a "comprehensive service provider for virtual assets"; Futu Securities' latest financial report shows rapid growth in its cryptocurrency business, with crypto-related asset balances reaching HKD 4 billion.
Futu Securities, Victory Securities, and CMB International are just a microcosm of the cryptocurrency transformation of Hong Kong brokerages.
As of August, over 40 brokerages in Hong Kong have obtained virtual asset trading licenses, with more institutions applying for licenses. The path has been paved, and the future is being written. Three institutions, three practices, together outline a roadmap for Hong Kong's transition from a traditional financial center to a new era of digital assets.
These events mark the transition of Hong Kong brokerages into cryptocurrency from a trial phase to a full implementation phase. The three institutions, with their unique resource endowments and market positioning, provide typical samples for observing this transformation.
CMB International: Ecological Empowerment, Integrator of Traditional Financial Resources
As a representative of Chinese bank-affiliated brokerages, CMB International has chosen to rely on traditional financial resources to build a development path with compliance and ecological advantages, focusing on cross-border cooperation and innovation.
In August 2025, CMB International partnered with DigiFT and OnChain to tokenize a US dollar money market fund recognized in both Hong Kong and Singapore, issuing the token CMBMINT on-chain.
This is the world's first cross-jurisdictional tokenized public fund and the first fund from a Chinese bank group to have RWA assets on-chain. The tokenized asset is the CMB International US Dollar Money Market Fund (CMBMINT), with 70% of the funds invested in low-volatility instruments such as short-term high-quality US dollar deposits, treasury bills, and commercial paper.
The CMBMINT project adopts a dual-standard architecture of Solana Token2022 and SPL, achieving a balance between compliance auditing and on-chain efficiency through a "transfer hook" mechanism. In addition to its initial launch on the Solana chain, the CMBMINT token will subsequently be deployed on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Plume Network, becoming the first currency fund token to support multi-chain operations.
On July 14, 2025, CMB International Securities Limited officially received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, becoming the first Chinese bank-affiliated brokerage in Hong Kong to obtain a virtual asset trading service license.
CMB International Securities' mobile application has added virtual asset trading functions, providing qualified investors with 24/7 trading services. Investors can directly participate in trading Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT) through their virtual asset accounts.
Victory Securities: RWA Specialization, Innovator of Traditional Asset Tokenization
As one of the oldest comprehensive licensed brokerages in Hong Kong, Victory Securities has chosen to focus on the tokenization of RWA (Real World Assets), achieving significant growth and differentiated competition.
Victory Securities announced that its cryptocurrency trading volume has exceeded HKD 10 billion in the past 12 months, maintaining its top position in the local market. The company will focus on six development directions over the next three years, with "comprehensive service provider for virtual assets" as its strategic core.
These directions include deepening global asset management solutions for immigration asset allocation using cryptocurrencies, strengthening institutional-level RWA innovative applications, launching structured derivatives for virtual assets, exploring new cryptocurrency financial application scenarios, and establishing standards for newly developed products.
Since 2019, Victory Securities has proactively laid out its virtual asset strategy, becoming the first financial institution in Hong Kong to be granted a full virtual asset license (Licenses 1, 4, and 9). After more than five years of technology development and risk control system construction, the company quickly launched several industry-first services after opening virtual asset retail trading at the end of 2023.
These innovations include the first integrated securities and virtual asset trading app, the first "VA Spot ETF Physical Delivery" service, and the world's first green energy exchange asset RWA tokenization project, effectively lowering the trading threshold for investors and helping to link to physical assets.
Futu Securities: Technology-Driven, Aggressive Global Layout
As the largest internet brokerage in China, Futu Securities has chosen a comprehensive and aggressive global expansion strategy based on its technological advantages and large user base. As of the second quarter of 2025, Futu has registered 27.12 million users, with 2.88 million "asset clients."
Futu's cryptocurrency business has expanded to Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. In Hong Kong, Futu has provided crypto trading services to local residents for a year; in Singapore, Futu Moomoo is the only licensed internet brokerage offering crypto trading; in the United States, Futu began launching cryptocurrency trading services in most states in June 2025.
Futu's layout in the cryptocurrency field is extensive, including upgrading License 1 to provide cryptocurrency trading, applying for VATP licenses, participating in RWA and cryptocurrency wealth management, and investing in Tianxing Bank to develop stablecoin business.
Particularly, the VATP license, once approved, means that Futu will have a compliant cryptocurrency exchange in Hong Kong, capable of conducting retail and institutional business.
Futu's cryptocurrency business has achieved significant results. By the end of the second quarter of 2025, the balance of Futu's crypto-related assets reached approximately HKD 4 billion, with the highest daily average trading volume reaching USD 40 million.
In terms of finance, Futu achieved revenue of HKD 5.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025, a year-on-year increase of about 70%, with a net profit of HKD 2.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 113%.
Common Anchors: Three Strategic Formulations and a Compliance Blueprint
A deep analysis of the three transformation samples reveals several common characteristics among Hong Kong brokerages in the process of cryptocurrency transformation. Licensing has become a standard industry action, with all three institutions prioritizing compliance as their primary task. Futu has simultaneously advanced license applications in multiple global markets, demonstrating the agility unique to internet brokerages; Victory Securities obtained Hong Kong's first full virtual asset license, reflecting the old institution's extreme pursuit of compliance; CMB International, relying on its bank-affiliated background, became the first Chinese brokerage to obtain this license. This "compliance first" strategy reflects Hong Kong financial institutions' accurate grasp of regulatory dividends.
Technological innovation constitutes the core engine of transformation. Futu quickly built a global trading system based on its technological genes, supporting multi-market business collaboration; Victory Securities has deeply cultivated RWA tokenization technology, integrating physical assets with blockchain innovation; CMB International has constructed a complex multi-chain architecture to achieve cross-chain asset flow. These technological layouts not only reflect each institution's differentiated advantages but also demonstrate a consensus on the prospects of blockchain technology.
Business collaboration has become a key path for value release. Futu has transformed its 27 million user base into a natural traffic pool for its cryptocurrency business; Victory Securities is promoting the migration of traditional brokerage clients to virtual asset services; CMB International is leveraging bank resources to develop institutional business. This collaborative development of traditional and innovative businesses has not only reduced customer acquisition costs but also increased customer stickiness, forming a virtuous cycle.
Challenges and Opportunities: Reefs and Blue Oceans Coexist
The cryptocurrency transformation of Hong Kong brokerages is not without challenges and risks.
Regulatory compliance risk is the primary challenge. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission regulates virtual asset trading based on the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO), requiring brokerages to upgrade to VASP, comply with licensing or recognition regulations under the SFO to obtain relevant licenses, and adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) requirements, as well as asset "hard isolation" compliance requirements. CMB International's trading services are only available to professional investors, and ordinary investors cannot use Bitcoin as collateral for HKD loans, strictly following the investor suitability management requirements in the "Regulation of Virtual Asset Trading Platforms." Additionally, platforms must have a paid-up capital of no less than HKD 5 million and liquid assets of HKD 3 million, and must reserve enough liquidity assets to cover at least 12 months of operating expenses, which poses a significant challenge to the platform's layout in Hong Kong.
Technological security risks are ever-present. Based on the lessons from the Terra/LUNA collapse, algorithmic stablecoins lacking physical asset support have been explicitly excluded from regulation. However, due to the programmability requirements of cryptocurrency products based on RWA and stablecoins, careful consideration of technical issues such as smart contract development, value binding, and oracles is still necessary during the cryptocurrency transformation. This presents both a challenge for traditional brokerages in business expansion and an opportunity to seek technical partners. CMB International sought relevant technical partners years ago, investing significant resources in security audits for its CMBMINT project; Futu's global system needs to meet different regional technical standards; and Victory Securities' RWA project must ensure the consistency of on-chain and off-chain assets. These technical challenges not only concern fund security but also pose a significant test for institutional reputation.
Market volatility risks require a new risk control system. The high volatility of virtual assets far exceeds that of traditional financial products, and all three institutions need to establish specialized risk measurement and management models. At the same time, talent shortages have become a common challenge in the industry, with a high demand for professionals who understand both traditional finance and blockchain, and organizational structure and cultural transformation also require time to settle. Furthermore, current guidelines still prohibit platforms from issuing or trading virtual asset futures and related derivatives. This reflects the regulatory authorities' cautious attitude towards complex high-risk products, prioritizing market stability. The Securities and Futures Commission has stated that it will review the situation in the future and consider the possibility of opening such products to institutional investors. For brokerages, this blocks a business route. Therefore, how to ensure that their vessels can navigate through this transformative period while the market remains turbulent is a risk that brokerages must consider.
It is worth noting that these challenges also give rise to new opportunities. Regulatory compliance requirements have spurred the development of compliance technology, technological security risks have driven the demand for blockchain security services, and market volatility risks have promoted innovation in derivatives and hedging tools. The practices of the three institutions indicate that successful transformation requires finding a dynamic balance between risks and opportunities, turning challenges into differentiated competitive advantages.
Future Outlook: A New Financial Ecosystem of Integration and Innovation
The cryptocurrency transformation of Hong Kong brokerages is constructing a brand new digital financial ecosystem.
Technological integration will become a future development trend. CMB International's CMBMINT project adopts a multi-chain deployment architecture, showcasing the potential for the integration of different blockchain technologies. Futu Securities plans to launch deposit and withdrawal functions in Singapore and the United States in the second half of the year, further expanding technological boundaries.
Business innovations will continue to emerge. Futu Securities' executives stated in a financial report conference call: "In addition to spot trading, there may be more monetization opportunities in the future, such as staking and derivatives." Victory Securities' collaboration with Cao Cao Mobility has created an application scenario of "ride-hailing assets + RWA."
The regulatory framework will continue to improve. With the official implementation of Hong Kong's stablecoin policy in August 2025, stablecoin business will also become an important part of brokerages' cryptocurrency transformation. This will provide brokerages with more business opportunities and innovation space.
Bright prospects, a promising future
The process of cryptocurrency transformation among Hong Kong brokerages shows that the integration of traditional finance and digital assets is irreversible. The practices of Futu, Victory, and CMB International indicate that successful transformation requires leveraging their own advantages, choosing suitable development paths, and placing a high emphasis on compliance and risk control.
As more brokerages join this trend, Hong Kong is gradually building a new ecosystem that integrates traditional finance and digital innovation. This transformation will not only reshape the landscape of Hong Kong's financial industry but also provide important references for the digital development of global financial markets. **In the future, the balance between technological innovation and compliance management, as well as the deep integration of *virtual assets* and the real economy, will continue to drive Hong Kong's international financial center into the digital age.**
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