Yahya 
By getting approval under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO), Hong Kong-based crypto trading platform DFX Labs has significantly moved toward acquiring a full operating licence in the area.
Current Licensing Situation
Public documents kept by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) show DFX Labs is “deemed to be licensed for providing the virtual asset service.” DFX Labs has an active AMLO license, however they are not yet approved to provide crypto trading services. The SFC record made clear, “The applicant is solely licensed for offering the virtual asset service below. Under the AMLO, the SFC HAS NOT issued a license to the Applicant. His or her license application is currently under review.
This Might Interest You: Sports Tokens Plunge Despite UEFA Championship Kickoff
With Simon Au Yeung, the main applicant, DFX Labs sought for the Hong Kong cryptocurrency license on December 27, 2023. June 1 saw the platform declared licensed. Still, the DFX Labs website is not licensed virtual asset platform and cannot be accessed by those living in Hong Kong.
Crypto and Web3 Initiatives of Hong Kong
Three Hong Kong government agencies—The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Toronto ( Toronto ETO), Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), and StartmeupHK (SMUHK)—recently co-hosted an event in Toronto to showcase Hong Kong as a technological center for Canadian crypto and Web3 entrepreneurs. Toronto ETO director Emily Mo underlined during the event Hong Kong’s startup-friendly policies, which include lower taxes than Canada and a readiness to cooperate with “pre-commercial specialist technology companies.” She said, “Web3/virtual asset innovations have a creative perspective. These days, trends in Hong Kong and Asia include fintech, health technology, green technologies, property technologies, etc.
Regulatory Environment
Hong Kong ruled in May that all cryptocurrency exchanges operating without licenses had to stop business. This action resulted in multiple retraction of applications for operating licenses among well-known worldwide companies as OKX, Huobi HK, and Bybit.
Click here to get the latest news from Coin Engineer!