The Hong Kong government wants to ban retail investors from trading cryptocurrencies and force exchange operators to obtain licences, according to the South China Morning Post.
The government has released a consultation paper to collect views on the proposed rules, which aim to offer investors better protection by combating fraud and money laundering.
The regulations will cover all types of virtual assets’ trading platforms operating in Hong Kong, as well as overseas platforms targeting local investors.
Christopher Hui Ching-yu, the secretary for financial services and the Treasury, said: “Simply speaking, we will require all virtual-asset trading platforms to be operating transparently, like working under the sunlight.
“Under the proposed new regulatory regime, they must fit in with the licensing requirements of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and must follow all the investor-protection and anti-money laundering regulation.”
