Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) believes that crypto trading require extra supervision especially in the area of unlicensed trading.
A top official with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission believes that more has to be done to combat cryptocurrency fraud, hinting at future guidelines on digital asset trading in the special administrative region.
According to an English translation of an article published in local publication ETNet, Deputy Chief Executive Liang Fengyi said the SFC is compelled to broaden the scope of cryptocurrency supervision in the city-state, particularly as it applies to unlicensed trading.
She explained that crypto-assets do not fall within the SFC’s jurisdiction because they are not recognized as securities or payment methods. As a result, many investors who took part in the new asset class have lost a lot of money.
Unlike mainland China, Hong Kong allows cryptocurrency trading, however, the breadth of transactions is limited. On top of these license requirements, government regulators in the special administrative region have proposed limiting cryptocurrency trading to professional investors.
Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau are considering restricting crypto access to portfolios with at least $1 million in assets, as Cointelegraph revealed in May. The new regulations, if implemented, would limit crypto access to around 93 percent of the city’s population.
Several cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong have ceased or reduced trading operations in recent months. Futu, a Hong Kong brokerage, stated in June that it was suspending crypto futures trading due to regulatory concerns. Binance said in August that local traders would no longer be able to trade derivatives.
