Hong Kong’s biggest virtual bank, ZA Bank, has launched a service that lets regular people buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) using regular money (fiat currency).
Requirements for Users
According to a Nov. 25 statement, in order to use this service, you must:
Be a Hong Kong resident.
Have an account with ZA Bank.
Complete a risk assessment to ensure you understand the potential risks of trading cryptocurrencies which is accessed through the bank’s app.
Now, ZA Bank’s crypto service only supports the buying and selling of Bitcoin and Ethereum. No other cryptocurrencies are available at the moment.
Collaboration with HashKey Exchange
Calvin Ng, alternate chief executive of ZA Bank, explained that the service was developed with HashKey, a licensed cryptocurrency exchange. The partnership would help the bank comply with Hong Kong’s strict regulations and bring traditional banking closer to the crypto world.
“The rise of cryptocurrency presents investors with more diverse asset allocation opportunities,” Ng said.
Livio Weng, the CEO of HashKey Exchange, said they’ll keep working with ZA Bank to grow Hong Kong’s Web3 (crypto and blockchain) ecosystem and provide more financial services to users.
Calvin Ng further highlighted that cryptocurrencies would provide new opportunities for investors to diversify their portfolios (spread investments across different assets).
Hong Kong’s Crypto Trading Rules
Retail (regular) crypto trading only became legal in Hong Kong in August 2023. So far, only three crypto exchanges are officially licensed to operate there by the regulator, the Securities Futures Commission (SFC).
The three licensed exchanges in Hong Kong are:
OSL (licensed in 2020)
HashKey (licensed in 2022)
HKVAX (licensed in October 2023)
The SFC , however, has hinted that more crypto exchanges and digital asset companies might get licensed before the end of the year.
What You Should Know
ZA Bank was licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 2019 and became Hong Kong’s first and largest digital bank. ZA Bank has over 800,000 users. HashKey was established in 2018.
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