Hong Kong plans to submit stablecoin, OTC crypto bills soon following consultation: official

Quick Take

  • Hong Kong’s top finance official said the government will submit the bills for stablecoin and over-the-counter crypto trading to the Legislative Council “as soon as practicable.”

A Hong Kong finance official said today that the government would work towards submitting licensing bills for stablecoin and over-the-counter crypto trading frameworks as soon as the consultations progress.

Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, said in a written response to a lawmaker at the Legislative Council that the FSTB, earlier this month, launched a public consultation on legislative proposals to introduce a licensing regime for providers of over-the-counter crypto trading services. The consultation is set to end on April 12.

In December, the FSTB and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the de facto central bank, also jointly launched a consultation — until Feb. 29 — on regulating stablecoin issuers. They proposed that all fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers should obtain a license from the HKMA.

“Subject to the consultation outcomes and progress of the preparatory work, the Government will submit bills on the above licensing regimes to the Legislative Council as soon as practicable,” Hui said.

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Growing crime concern

Meanwhile, Hui noted in the written response that the Securities and Futures Commission has busted an increasing number of crypto-related crime cases in recent years. Hong Kong saw a total of 3,415 crypto-related criminal cases last year, up from 2,336 cases in 2022 and 1,397 cases in 2021, according to Hui. The amount of money involved in these cases climbed to nearly HK$4.4 billion ($562.6 million) last year, marking a rise from HK$1.7 billion in 2022 and HK$824 million in 2021.

While Hong Kong has been making efforts to become a crypto hub, the regulators are taking a stringent approach in phasing out what they deem bad actors. For example, the authorities busted the JPEX crypto exchange last year and have arrested 70 people associated with the platform as of Feb. 20 with no prosecution yet initiated, Hui added.


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About Author

Timmy Shen is an Asia editor for The Block. Previously, he wrote about crypto and Web3 for Forkast.News from Taiwan after spending more than three years in Beijing covering finance and current affairs at Caixin Global and Chinese tech at TechNode. His China-related reporting has also appeared in The Guardian. When he's not chasing headlines, you'll find him savoring hot pot and shabu shabu in a Taipei local haunt. Timmy holds an MS degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Send tips to [email protected] or get in touch on X/Telegram @timmyhmshen.

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