Editor's Note: This article comes fromHoneycomb Finance News (ID: fengchao-caijing), Author: JX kin, reproduced by Odaily with authorization.
Editor's Note: This article comes from
Honeycomb Finance News (ID: fengchao-caijing)
Honeycomb Finance News (ID: fengchao-caijing)
On November 6, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission issued the "Position Statement: Supervision of Virtual Asset Trading Platforms" and "Warning on Virtual Asset Futures Contracts" that the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has just issued.
The new regulations show that only platforms that trade security tokens are included in the supervision, and the threshold for KYC, AML, and platform security is relatively high; on the user side, only qualified investors can participate. This means that most of the existing investors in the currency circle are blocked from the door.
"The new regulations are benchmarking." Zhu Youping, deputy director of the China Economic Network Management Center of the State Information Center and a blockchain economist, expressed his affirmation of the Hong Kong regulatory authorities, but he also emphasized that unregulated ICOs and unregulated exchanges are not reliable, " Whether the shoes fit your feet can only be known by walking around."
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Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission clarifies "licensing"
November 6th is a day that can be written into the history of cryptocurrency development. At 5 pm on the same day, the "Position Statement: Supervision of Virtual Asset Trading Platforms" and "Warning on Virtual Asset Futures Contracts" appeared on the homepage of the official website of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC, referred to as the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission).
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The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission issued the "Position Statement"
The "Position Paper" defines cryptocurrencies as virtual assets, applicable to licensed securities brokers and automated trading venues. Regulatory standards involve safe custody of assets, KYC, anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, market manipulation, accounting and auditing, and risk management , conflicts of interest, and acceptance of virtual assets for buying and selling.
In particular, it should be pointed out that according to regulations, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission will grant licenses to platforms that meet the expected standards. Licensed platforms only provide services to professional investors, and online products must be reported to the Securities Regulatory Commission and obtained permission.
On the day when the new regulations were promulgated, Ren Yunan, CEO of OKLink, a subsidiary of OK Group, said that OKLink has been inquired by local traditional securities companies in Hong Kong and will immediately carry out financial technology business cooperation. Its technical strength is implemented in the upcoming compliance business in Hong Kong.
On November 7, OKEx CEO Jay also stated on Weibo that the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has made clearer characterization of virtual assets, and OKEx has already implemented internal system and market monitoring standards equivalent to the new regulations, including KYC, AML, customer Internal control standards such as independent separation of funds and risk control are "ready to embrace supervision at any time."
Except for OKEx and OKLink, few trading platforms in the industry speak out against the new regulations.
On November 6, at the Hong Kong Financial Technology Week, Alder, CEO of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, revealed in a speech that SFC has regulatory (application) rules for STO exchanges.
The basis for such a judgment comes from the fact that the two leading platforms have both acquired Hong Kong-listed companies. At that time, the industry once interpreted this as a path for the two platforms to seek listing and compliance. Huobi acquired Tongcheng Holdings last year and has now changed its name to Huobi Technology (stock code: HK.01611). On November 6, Huobi Technology’s stock price rose 15.6%; OKEx controlled the Hong Kong listed company Advance Holdings (stock Code: HK.01499), after the news from the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, the share price of Advance Holdings also rose by 6.2%.
However, at present, Huobi is also speaking out for the new actions of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission. Huobi related personnel told Honeycomb Finance that it is not convenient to reply for the time being.
In addition, teams such as MXC, BiKi, and Gate.io, well-known digital asset trading platforms in the industry, did not comment on this.
According to the documents of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, there are currently more than ten cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Hong Kong, and these local platforms have not commented.
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The trading platform has a high threshold for obtaining a license
On the afternoon of November 6, the "Position Statement" of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission became the content of dissemination and discussion in various communities and circles of friends in the currency circle. That night, the interpretations of experts who study cryptocurrencies in the industry appeared in the media.
Two weeks ago, on October 24, Mainland China pushed the blockchain technology to the cutting-edge technology level that the country attaches great importance to. At this time, Hong Kong promulgated new regulatory regulations related to cryptocurrency, which means that there will be compliant digital asset transactions in the country. platform.
In contrast to the detailed rules, it is not easy for a trading platform to obtain a license from Hong Kong.
Cai Kailong, a financial commentator and senior researcher at the Financial Technology Research Institute of Renmin University of China, told Honeycomb Finance that Hong Kong’s regulatory principles follow the US Securities Regulatory Commission’s regulatory principles. Therefore, which can be classified as security tokens can refer to US regulations.
The U.S. SEC stipulates that tokens that meet the four major conditions of the "Howey Test" can be classified as security tokens, that is, investors invest in cash or equivalents; invest in a common cause; invest for profit; investors do not participate in operations and make profits Reliance on Efforts of Sponsor or Third Party.
According to this regulation, most of the mainstream cryptocurrencies currently on the market are not classified as security tokens. Bitcoin has been clearly excluded from this scope, and Ethereum has not been included in the category of security tokens after many debates with the SEC.
It can be seen that most of the digital assets in the market are not clear about whether they are security tokens, and the platforms that provide these asset transactions are not up to the licensing standards.
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Cai Kailong also mentioned that the new SFC regulations have compressed the gray space of the exchange. If the exchange accepts supervision, it will have a greater impact on its currency listing business. Therefore, for some exchanges, supervision is not necessarily a good thing .
In addition, for licensed exchanges, only qualified investors can participate under the new regulations. foreign currency); or an institution with total assets of not less than 40 million yuan (or any equivalent foreign currency).
This means that the only way for ordinary investors to use licensed exchanges is to entrust their funds to institutions that meet the requirements of qualified investors, which also increases the threshold for investors.
Cai Kailong also mentioned that Hong Kong is not a precedent when it comes to clarifying cryptocurrency regulatory policies. The United States has strict ICO regulations, so STO (token securitization) has been opened, but STO has not been implemented in the United States. This is great news, in the U.S. market, Nasdaq’s channel dedicated to formal STOs has not been successful so far.”
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The Double-Edged Sword of the “Security Token” Standard
As an Asian financial center, Hong Kong has always been at the forefront in the regulation of cryptocurrencies. Since November last year, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission began to explore the regulatory rules for virtual asset business platforms, announced virtual asset regulatory rules, and also publicly accepted sandbox applications, confirming that STO sales require specific brokerage licenses and other relevant rules; October 4 this year , the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission announced the detailed rules for the application of virtual asset asset management licenses.
Judging from the current requirements of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission on the supervision of virtual asset platforms, it has little impact on general platforms and ordinary users. Hong Kong's "Position Statement" related to the issuance of licenses is of demonstration significance from the perspective of the industry.
After the promulgation of the new regulations, Zhu Youping, deputy director of the China Economic Network Management Center of the State Information Center and a blockchain economist, stated in a public statement that embracing supervision and closing the business logic of the blockchain and digital currency revolution is the conclusion. "Hong Kong proposed a new Regulations are of benchmark significance".
Cai Kailong also said that for digital currency exchanges, the new regulatory regulations promulgated by the Hong Kong SFC have a positive impact on the regular army in the traditional financial field and large financial institutions entering the digital asset field, "but not necessarily on existing exchanges. It's all a good thing."
He believes that compliant exchanges such as OK and Huobi will appear in the industry, "because many powerful institutions and international financial institutions have the opportunity to enter the market, and the markets in China and Southeast Asia are huge, and they will apply."
After the regular army enters, will it have an impact on the current exchange structure?
