Interactive Brokers Hong Kong has obtained a license to trade virtual assets for retail clients in Hong Kong. The announcement was made by David Friedland, the Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Interactive Brokers, on LinkedIn. The firm will initially focus on trading Bitcoin and Ethereum. More details about the licensing will be provided in an official announcement. Hong Kong has seen a surge in crypto-related activities, with companies seeking local licensing. Hashkey became the first crypto exchange in Hong Kong to receive a specific license for offering crypto assets to retail investors. SEBA, a Swiss crypto bank, also received a license from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to offer various crypto-related services. However, the crypto industry in Hong Kong faced a setback when the unlicensed exchange JPEX allegedly scammed investors out of millions of dollars. In response, regulators updated the crypto policies, making certain digital currency offerings available only to professional investors. A recent survey revealed that only 47% of retail investors in Hong Kong are aware of local virtual asset regulations.

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Information	Details
Geography	Asia
Countries	🇭🇰 🇨🇭
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	David Friedland
Companies	Hashkey, JPEX, SEBA, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Interactive Brokers Hong Kong
Currencies	Bitcoin, Ethereum
Securities	None