Hong Kong crypto licence register
Every virtual asset trading platform licensed by the SFC · source: SFC lists of VATPs · checked daily · last check 6 August 2026
Complete register · 13 licensed platforms · source: SFC
About
The Securities and Futures Commission is Hong Kong's regulator for virtual asset trading platforms. Since 1 June 2024 it has been an offence to operate a platform serving Hong Kong investors without an SFC licence. Every entry above is taken from the SFC's own lists: licensed platforms, platforms whose applications are still under assessment, and applications that were returned, refused or withdrawn. An application — including one in the "deemed-to-be-licensed" transitional category — is not a licence.
How do I check if a crypto exchange is licensed in Hong Kong?
Search its name or brand above, then switch the status filter to see applicants and withdrawn applications. Every licensed platform has a CE reference number you can verify on the SFC's own public register — each record here links straight to it. If a platform serving Hong Kong investors appears nowhere on these lists, it is not licensed.
What is a "deemed-to-be-licensed" platform?
A transitional category. Platforms that were already operating in Hong Kong before the regime began and filed an application by the February 2024 deadline were allowed to keep operating while the SFC assessed them. Deemed-licensed is not licensed: the SFC has not finished its assessment, the application can still be refused or withdrawn, and several already have been.
Can retail investors trade on these platforms?
Yes. Hong Kong allows licensed platforms to serve retail clients, but only in tokens that meet the SFC's eligibility criteria — broadly, large-cap tokens included in at least two acceptable indices from independent providers. Platforms must also assess a client's knowledge and set exposure limits. Derivatives and most smaller tokens remain off-limits to retail.
Does an SFC licence cover stablecoin issuance?
No. Issuing a fiat-referenced stablecoin in Hong Kong is licensed separately by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority under the Stablecoins Ordinance, which took effect on 1 August 2025. A VATP licence lets a platform trade virtual assets; it does not permit issuing a stablecoin.
How current is this data?
We re-check the SFC's published lists every day, so new licences, new applicants and removals appear as soon as the SFC publishes them.
How Hong Kong's virtual-asset regime works
Hong Kong licenses virtual asset trading platforms under two statutes at once. The Securities and Futures Ordinance covers platforms that trade tokens amounting to securities or futures contracts; the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance covers platforms trading everything else. In practice the SFC grants both, so a licensed platform can list a token without first having to settle whether it is a security. The AMLO regime opened on 1 June 2023 and, after a twelve-month transition, became mandatory on 1 June 2024: since that date, operating a platform for Hong Kong investors without a licence is a criminal offence.
Licensed platforms may serve retail investors — Hong Kong's deliberate point of difference from several neighbouring markets — but only in tokens the SFC considers eligible. The test is objective rather than discretionary: a token generally has to be a large-cap asset included in at least two acceptable, independently constructed indices, and the platform must still run its own due diligence, assess each client's understanding of virtual assets and set exposure limits appropriate to that client. Virtual asset derivatives are not available to retail clients, and gifts or incentives to open an account are prohibited.
Custody rules are the strictest part of the regime. Client virtual assets must be held on trust through a wholly owned subsidiary of the platform, with at least 98% of them in cold storage and no more than 2% in hot wallets at any time. Platforms must maintain insurance or a compensation arrangement covering client assets, keep client money segregated with a licensed bank, and meet ongoing capital, cybersecurity, token-listing and disclosure requirements. The SFC inspects against these rules rather than taking them on trust.
The transitional "deemed-to-be-licensed" category is where most misreadings happen. Platforms already operating in Hong Kong before 1 June 2023 that filed an application by 29 February 2024 were treated as licensed while the SFC assessed them, so that they did not have to shut down mid-assessment. That is not the same as holding a licence. The SFC has not concluded that those firms meet the standard, applications in this category have been withdrawn or returned before a decision was reached, and a platform that presents deemed status as SFC approval is overstating its position. The distinction is the same one that separates an in-principle approval from a full licence in Dubai.
Hong Kong is a separate jurisdiction from mainland China, with its own regulator, currency and legal system. Mainland China bans virtual asset trading outright; Hong Kong licenses it. A platform licensed by the SFC may not serve mainland clients on the strength of that licence, and nothing on this page should be read as suggesting virtual asset trading is permitted in the mainland.
Stablecoin issuance sits outside the SFC's remit. Under the Stablecoins Ordinance, in force since 1 August 2025, issuing a fiat-referenced stablecoin in Hong Kong — or issuing one referenced to the Hong Kong dollar anywhere — requires a licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, with its own reserve, redemption and segregation requirements. Trading a stablecoin on a licensed platform and issuing one are two different permissions from two different regulators.
Several groups on this list hold licences in more than one jurisdiction. HashKey is licensed in Hong Kong and holds a VARA licence in Dubai; Crypto.com's Hong Kong entity, Foris DAX HK Limited, sits alongside group entities in both the Dubai register and the EU MiCA registers. Each licence covers only the jurisdiction that issued it: a Hong Kong licence authorises nothing in the EU, and MiCA authorisation authorises nothing in Hong Kong.