Hong Kong is taking another step to expand its crypto market. The city’s financial regulator, Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), will now let licensed local exchanges connect with global markets by sharing trading systems with overseas platforms. The move aims to improve liquidity, pricing efficiency, and competitiveness in the region’s virtual asset market.
The SFC released two circulars on Monday outlining the new framework. With this update, licensed exchanges can now share global order books with overseas platforms after obtaining written approval from the regulator. This approach enables local investors to trade more efficiently by accessing deeper international liquidity pools.
“This integration will enable local investors to tap global market liquidity efficiently with better price discovery and more competitive prices,” said SFC Chief Executive Officer Julia Leung during Hong Kong Fintech Week.
Expanding market access and efficiency
Before this change, crypto trading in Hong Kong was limited to local systems, where all trades were funded and settled within the city. The new policy changes that open the door to global markets. Now, licensed exchanges can let users trade directly through international order books. This connection is expected to lower trading costs and make transactions faster for both everyday traders and large investors.
Besides the liquidity measure, the SFC issued another circular exempting Hong Kong Monetary Authority–licensed tokens and stablecoins from the 12-month trading history requirement for professional investor offerings. This adjustment allows faster onboarding of compliant digital assets, further widening the range of available investment products.
Strengthening Hong Kong’s crypto leadership
The changes come as Hong Kong continues to expand its crypto ecosystem. The city has already approved spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds and is evaluating the inclusion of more virtual assets. Since launching its licensing regime in 2022, the SFC has granted full licenses to HashKey Exchange, OSL Digital Securities, and HKVAX. More approvals are expected by the end of the year.
Leung emphasized the regulator’s balance between innovation and investor protection. She said, “By allowing licensed platforms to link local users to global liquidity pools, we’re providing better access to deep markets while maintaining our high standards of investor protection.” Hence, platforms must uphold strong anti-money laundering checks, segregate client assets, and monitor transactions for market abuse.
Building the future of digital finance
Hong Kong’s vision goes beyond trading. The government is testing stablecoin issuers in a regulatory sandbox and advancing tokenization of real-world assets like bonds and funds. At Fintech Week, which gathered over 30,000 participants from 60 countries, industry leaders praised Hong Kong’s “same business, same risks, same rules” principle for fostering fairness.
Industry executives have shown optimism. “This is a game-changer for retail and institutional traders in Hong Kong,” said Dave Chapman, CEO of Bullish. “Access to global liquidity will attract more volume and innovation to the region.”
Moreover, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters echoed this outlook. He predicted that nearly all transactions will eventually run on blockchain. “Our belief, which I think is shared by the leadership of Hong Kong, is that pretty much all transactions will settle on blockchains eventually,” Winters said, calling it a “complete rewiring of the financial system.”
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