Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), as well as the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), have jointly published the conclusions to a consultation on licensing regimes for virtual asset (VA) dealing and custodian services.
The public consultation period, which spanned two months, was completed in August 2025. 101 submissions were received addressing the proposals for VA dealing service providers, and 93 for VA custodian service providers.
The report states that “the majority of respondents, including market participants, industry associations, business and professional organisations, expressed clear support for expanding the regulatory scope to cover VA dealing and custodian services”. An expansion of the regulatory scope would be in line with the June 2023 introduction of the licensing regime for VA trading platforms.
FSTB and SFC reveal that the proposed regime for VA dealing service providers will align with Type 1 regulations for conventional securities dealing activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance. VA custodian service providers will be subject to a regime that is focused on managing risks related to the safekeeping of private keys of client VAs in Hong Kong, with the aim of enhancing the security of client assets.
The FSTB and SFC have also launched another consultation on the licensing regimes for VA advisory and management service providers. These will be modelled on the regulatory framework applied to the conventional securities market and established separately from the rules governing VA dealing service providers.
