Hong Kong’s HashKey launches first crypto trading app for retail investors, gives away new token

Hong Kong cryptocurrency firm HashKey Group, one of two virtual asset exchanges in the city approved to serve retail investors, has launched the first trading app to get approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) since the JPEX scandal rocked the local industry.

With the app, HashKey is expanding its mobile retail offerings, having previously been limited to serving professional investors under an earlier voluntary licensing regime. Hongkongers will be able to buy bitcoin and ether through the app using either Hong Kong dollars or US dollars deposited directly from local bank accounts, HashKey Group chief operating officer Livio Weng said.

The launch comes one year after the Hong Kong government unveiled a series of policy shifts aimed at boosting the virtual asset sector, including a new mandatory licensing scheme for cryptocurrency platforms that would allow them to sell tokens with large market capitalisations to retail traders. The new licensing regulation went into effect in June with a one-year grace period, with no new exchanges yet to be approved. HashKey and rival OSL had their previous licences upgraded in August.