AVAX and LINK now available for retail traders in Hong Kong

Investors in Hong Kong will now have access to two new cryptocurrencies, namely Chainlink and Avalanche, as one of the Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) licensed crypto exchanges is expanding its offerings.

According to a report from the SCMP, HashKey exchange, currently one of the city’s two licensed cryptocurrency exchanges under the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), has listed Avax and Link for retail investors.

Up until now, traders only had access to two crypto assets, namely, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Retail investors can diversify

Initially, the exchange was allowed to offer its services to professional traders and institutional players, who also have access to a broader range of cryptocurrencies.

However, a year ago, on August 28, the exchange launched retail trading after receiving Type 1 and Type 7 licenses from the SFC. 

Back then, the exchange had disclosed its intentions to expand its retail offerings and is now making a move in that regard with the listing of Avalanche and Chainlink on its platform following SFC approval.

Livio Weng, the exchange’s CEO, said this development implies that Hong Kong regulators are looking to “speed up” Web3 development.

AVAX is the native cryptocurrency for the Avalanche blockchain, a smart contract-powered platform that allows the creation of custom blockchain networks called subnets.

The cryptocurrency currently holds a market cap of over $9.5 billion and is the 14th largest cryptocurrency.

LINK is the native cryptocurrency of Chainlink, which is a decentralised oracle network that allows smart contracts to access real-world data, events and payment systems.

LINK boasts a slightly lower market cap at a little over $6.8 billion and is ranked the 18th largest cryptocurrency.

Weng stated that one of the reasons for HashKey to choose these assets was the fact that they rank among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, which is a key metric for Hong Kong regulators.

Further, Weng added that some other crypto assets with bigger market caps were facing legal scrutiny across various jurisdictions globally. 

Hong Kong regulators require crypto assets to comply with strict standards, including legal clarity, sufficient market liquidity, transparency of the development team, and technological resilience.

Weng further added that the crypto promises made by the current US Presidential candidates have also influenced Hong Kong regulators to fast-track crypto regulations.

He also expects Hong Kong to allow staking on spot ether ETFs in 2024, which the SEC prohibits in the US.

HashKey’s expansion efforts

The listing follows HashKey Group, the firm behind the exchange, securing a $100 million Series A funding round in January, which was set to be utilised towards product diversification for its crypto trading platform.

The financial services provider has also partnered with several crypto industry players to bolster its presence in the crypto sector.

Recently, the TON foundation, the entity supporting the development of the Telegram-backed blockchain, partnered with Haskey Group to enhance virtual asset services in the Asia Pacific region. 

Last year, the blockchain network NEO onboarded HashKey Group’s node validation services provider HashKey Cloud, as a member of the Neo Council. The platform contributes to NEO’s security and scalability.

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