What it is
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is Hong Kong's independent statutory regulator for securities and futures markets. In crypto, it is the territory's principal gatekeeper: it regulates crypto-assets that qualify as securities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance, and — since June 2023 — it licenses every virtual asset trading platform (VATP) operating in or targeting Hong Kong, regardless of whether the tokens traded are securities. That second mandate comes from the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO), which added a virtual asset service provider regime effective 1 June 2023. The SFC shares the digital-asset perimeter with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which handles banking and stablecoin issuer licensing, while the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) drives policy — a division of labour set out in the government's October 2022 Policy Statement on Virtual Assets that repositioned Hong Kong as a regulated crypto hub.
Crypto framework and stance
The core of the SFC regime is VATP licensing under the AMLO. Any platform serving Hong Kong users needs an SFC licence, and platforms that list security tokens additionally need Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (automated trading services) licences under the SFO — combined Type 1/Type 7 licensing is the standard practical requirement. Licensed platforms may serve retail investors, but only in large-cap tokens meeting prescribed eligibility tests; the rules also require majority cold storage of client assets, client asset segregation, and FATF-aligned AML/CFT controls. In February 2025 the SFC published its ASPIRe roadmap — twelve initiatives across five pillars (Access, Safeguards, Products, Infrastructure, Relationships) — signalling a shift from perimeter-building to market expansion. Delivery followed: through 2025 the SFC relaxed liquidity requirements, allowed licensed platforms to tap global liquidity and broaden product offerings, and — with the FSTB — concluded consultations on two further licensing regimes, for virtual asset dealers and virtual asset custodians, with legislation targeted for 2026. A separate over-the-counter trading regime for OTC desks has been in development alongside.
Notable actions
The defining enforcement episode is JPEX. On 13 September 2023 the SFC publicly warned that JPEX — an exchange heavily promoted by local influencers — was unlicensed; within days the platform effectively froze withdrawals by raising fees to prohibitive levels, and Hong Kong police opened what became the city's largest crypto-fraud investigation, with more than 2,700 complainants reporting combined losses of roughly HK$1.6 billion (about US$206 million). Around 80 people have been arrested and 26 charged across two batches (16 in November 2025, 10 in January 2026), with several suspects wanted on Interpol red notices and about HK$228 million in assets frozen. The case pushed the SFC toward greater transparency: it now publishes public lists of licensed platforms, applicants, and suspicious or unlicensed operators, and has named dozens of platforms in warning notices since. See our full incident write-up: JPEX fraud (2023). On the licensing side, the register has grown steadily: OSL (December 2020) and HashKey (November 2022) were the pioneers; HKVAX followed in October 2024; HKbitEX, Accumulus, DFX Labs and EX.IO were licensed together on 18 December 2024; PantherTrade (a Futu subsidiary) and YAX (Tiger Brokers) in January 2025; Bullish in February 2025; BGE in June 2025; and in 2026 Victory Fintech (VDX, February) and Bixin.com operator NewBX (May) brought the list to 13 licensed VATPs. Hong Kong also launched Asia's first spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, which began trading on 30 April 2024 under existing securities frameworks.
Key figures
Chief Executive Officer Julia Leung leads the SFC and has been the public face of its crypto strategy. She has framed the approach as bold but measured — expanding regulated access while keeping the JPEX lessons in view — and has urged banks, asset managers and market infrastructure operators to adopt blockchain and tokenization to, in her words, not only survive but thrive in a technology-driven financial landscape. Under her tenure the SFC published the ASPIRe roadmap, expanded the licensed-platform roster, and moved the dealer and custodian regimes toward legislation.
What it means for users and builders
For users, the practical rule is simple: trade only on the SFC's licensed list. JPEX showed how expensive the alternative can be, and the SFC's public registers of licensed platforms and warning lists are the fastest red-flag check in Hong Kong. Retail access is real but bounded — large-cap tokens on licensed venues, with custody and segregation safeguards that unlicensed offshore platforms do not offer. For builders, Hong Kong now offers one of the clearer licensing paths in Asia: VATP licensing for exchanges, Type 1/Type 7 for security-token trading, an OTC regime for desks, and dealer and custodian regimes arriving via 2026 legislation. The bar is high — cold-storage majority, resident responsible officers, substantial capital — but the SFC has shown it will keep licensing new entrants, including brokerage subsidiaries like PantherTrade and YAX. Stablecoin issuance sits next door with the HKMA, so stablecoin projects need a different licence entirely.
Outlook
Expect the perimeter to keep widening. The dealer and custodian licensing bills are targeted for 2026, extending SFC oversight beyond trading platforms to the rest of the intermediation chain. Product expansion continues under ASPIRe — the SFC has signalled openness to derivatives and broader offerings for licensed platforms, and consultations on further regimes are ongoing. The licensed-VATP list should keep growing from its current 13, with applications still in the queue. The strategic contest with Singapore and Dubai for regulated crypto business remains the backdrop: Hong Kong's bet is that a licensed, retail-inclusive market — hardened by the JPEX experience — wins institutional trust faster than lighter-touch alternatives.