ZA Bank now allows Hong Kong residents to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum with fiat currency, requiring an account and risk assessment.
ZA Bank, the largest virtual bank in Hong Kong, recently introduced a new service that allows retail consumers to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum directly using fiat currency.
According to a statement released by the bank on November 25th, individuals who reside in Hong Kong are required to have an account with the bank and must go through a risk assessment before they can use the new cryptocurrency service that is connected to the bank’s app.
ZA Bank is the only place where users can purchase Ether. There was no mention of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. In order to fulfill legal criteria and make progress toward integrating traditional banking with bitcoin, the service was established in collaboration with the cryptocurrency exchange HashKey, according to Calvin Ng, who serves as the alternate chief executive officer of ZA Bank.
According to Ng, “the rise of cryptocurrency presents investors with numerous opportunities to allocate their assets in a more diverse manner. According to a quote from Livio Weng, the Chief Executive Officer of HashKey Exchange, the exchange will continue to work “closely with ZA Bank to drive the development of the Web3 ecosystem” and offer “diversified financial services to our users.
Beginning in October, ZA Bank initiated a sandbox experiment for its virtual asset trading business. Concerning the misrepresentation of cryptocurrency companies as “banks,” Hong Kong issues a warning.
In August of 2023, Hong Kong was the first city to begin retail cryptocurrency trading. The Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Hong Kong’s financial sector regulator, has now granted licenses to just three exchanges.
The cryptocurrency exchanges OSL and HashKey received licenses in 2020 and 2022, respectively. The establishment of the Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX) in October marked the third one.
The SFC, which has raised this possibility, may issue additional licenses for cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset companies operating in the region by the end of the year. ZA Bank is Hong Kong’s first and largest digital bank after receiving a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in the year 2019. The ZA Bank has more than 800,000 customers.
