Seba Bank Receives In-Principle Approval for Crypto Services in Hong Kong.
The SEBA Hong Kong approval is part of recent heavy regulated crypto activity.
Hong Kong branch of crypto-friendly Swiss SEBA Bank has received an agreement in principle from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission allowing it to trade virtual assets.
SEBA Hong Kong announced on August 30 that its license approved in principle would allow it to trade virtual assets such as over-the-counter derivatives. It will also be able to advise clients on virtual assets and manage discretionary accounts.
Amy Yu, Asia Pacific CEO at SEBA Hong Kong, told AskFX that Hong Kong has tremendous potential due to the SFC’s virtual asset regulatory framework and legal system.
Yu said that while China still has a ban on crypto trading, Hong Kong, as a special administrative region of China, is in a good position to tap into this market once it opens. This is because Hong Kong is an extremely strategic place due to its location close to the mainland and as a special administrative region of China.
Hong Kong could once again be a gateway to China and offer the significant potential that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies can offer.
Yu stated that SEBA has received inquiries from crypto firms that are “unable to access and manage their holdings of digital assets through traditional providers,” as well as interest from family offices and private wealth.
SEBA Bank in Switzerland offers both traditional banking services and crypto-related services such as trading, staking and lending.
SEBA approval in principle comes amid a flurry of regulated crypto activity.
HashKey, the first exchange in Hong Kong to receive regulatory approval, is reported to open retail trading in Bitcoin BTC $27,458 and Ether ETH 1,720 in August offer $. 28.
Its peer trading platform OSL also received SFC approval to offer retail trading. HashKey and OSL are currently the only two fully licensed exchanges in Hong Kong.
That could soon change as the Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX) received approval in principle from the SFC to operate a crypto trading platform on Aug. 11.
