Hong Kong grants fresh licence to HKVAX to operate city’s third cryptocurrency exchange

Local firm Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange aims to offer over-the-counter trading, exchange and custody services

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The new cryptocurrency exchange licence granted to HKVAX shows Hong Kong’s resolve to build up its virtual-asset industry. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:30pm, 4 Oct 2024

Hong Kong’s securities regulator has approved the city’s third cryptocurrency exchange, the first to be licensed under a two-year-old virtual-asset regulatory regime that has so far struggled to gain traction.

Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange on Thursday obtained a licence for its trading platform HKVAX, according to an updated list on the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) website.

With its expertise in security token offerings (STO) and real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation, HKVAX aims to offer over-the-counter trading, exchange and custody services, the company said in a statement published on Friday.

The licence “demonstrates Hong Kong’s resolve to lead in the virtual-asset industry”, while HKVAX aims to establish the city as “the STO and RWA centre for Asia and beyond”, co-founder and chief executive Anthony Ng said in the statement.

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The company’s trading platform and onboarding system are still “undergoing final preparations”, the company said in a notice on its website.