[Futu Approved to Launch Virtual Asset Trading Financing Services for Eligible Clients in Hong Kong] According to Aastocks, Futu Securities announced that it has officially received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to upgrade its Type 1 license (dealing in securities) services. This upgrade allows Futu to launch virtual asset trading financing services for eligible clients in Hong Kong. It is understood that the collateral for this service must be traditional securities. Previously, the credit limits obtained by clients through traditional securities financing (margin) could not be used for cryptocurrency trading, but this restriction has now been relaxed to allow such credit limits to be used for cryptocurrency trading. As for directly using virtual assets as collateral for margin trading, although the SFC issued a circular in February relaxing the use of virtual assets as collateral, the circular also mentioned that before amendments to capital requirements are made, virtual asset collateral will be subject to a 100% deduction under the Securities and Futures (Financial Resources) Rules. It is expected that this will pose certain challenges to the industry's capital efficiency in practical operations.