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Hong Kong clients will be able to purchase Bitcoin and Ethereum in their personal accounts. Interactive Brokers, one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, has opened crypto trading for retail clients in Hong Kong. According to the Nov28 announcement, the service is offered in conjunction with OSL, one of the first crypto exchanges to receive a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Hong Kong. "Interactive Brokers' retail investors in Hong Kong now have immediate access to digital asset trading through a single unified platform powered by OSL," developers wrote.  Per its website, Hong Kong clients of Interactive Brokers can hold Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH) in their personal accounts alongside stocks, derivatives, commodities, forex, and other assets. Each trade is charged a commission equal to 0.20% to 0.30% of the transaction value. Last week, Cointelegraph reported that Interactive Brokers had received a license for retail virtual asset trading in Hong K...

Hong Kong’s securities regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), may allow retail investors to buy spot crypto ETFs. Bloomberg, citing SFC CEO Julia Leung, writes that the regulator welcomes proposals using innovative technologies that improve efficiency and quality of customer service. “We’re happy to give it a try as long as new risks are addressed. Our approach is consistent regardless of the asset.” Julia Leung, SFC CEO Although both the US and Hong Kong allow futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), their adoption has been relatively modest compared to the broader fund industry. You might also like: Hong Kong Monetary Authority concludes first CBDC trial Hong Kong currently has ETF listings such as Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active, CSOP Bitcoin Futures, and CSOP Ether Futures, with a total combined asset value of approximately $65 million. In September, Hong Kong took first place in the ranking of countries and territories most prepared to im...

HashKey becomes the first licensed retail cryptocurrency exchange to launch in Hong Kong and anticipates major growth of the Web3 industry in the special administrative region. Hong Kong retail crypto currency traders now have access to a locally based crypto currency exchange after HashKey took its retail trading services live to users in China’s special administrative region on Aug. 28. The company was previously permitted to serve professional and institutional investors, before being granted Type 1 and Type 7 licenses by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on Aug. 3. This paved the way to becoming the first licensed retail exchange in Hong Kong.  Figures from Hong Kong's treasury, banking, accounting and Web3 ecosystem marked the launch of retail trading at the Maritime Museum Central.  As Cointelegraph previously reported, the exchange now offers Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) trading pairs with the Hong Kong Dollar (BTC/USD and ETH/USD) and plans to l...

BTC price continues to show bullish momentum, but the absence of whale buyers and institutional investor selling threatens to weaken the current rally. Bitcoin’s (BTC) price broke above the February 2023 highs of $25,200 after U.S. inflation data was in consensus with the market expectation. The potential fallout of the global banking system further promoted Bitcoin investment as a non-correlated global hedging instrument similar to gold in March. The correlation between gold and BTC has been rising since the start of the month. Correlation coefficient between BTC and gold. Source: TradingView However, institutions have become net sellers of Bitcoin in 2023, which raises some red flags. Bitcoin whales, holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC, have not participated in the current rally. It appears that retail investors are mainly driving the uptrend. The divergence between whale and retail investment could cause a short-term pullback in Bitcoin prices. Institutions are forced BTC sellers, s...