Online brokerage Futu offers crypto trading in Hong Kong, with Nvidia, Alibaba stock as reward
Futu Securities International, Hong Kong's largest online broker, has launched retail cryptocurrency trading in the city, offering shares of Alibaba Group Holding and Nvidia as a reward in an attempt to attract investors.
Futu has started allowing Hong Kong residents to trade bitcoin and ether, the world's two largest cryptocurrencies, directly on the brokerage platform using either Hong Kong or US dollars, the company announced on Thursday.
The online retail broker said last month that it had received a securities licence upgrade from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), allowing Futu to offer virtual asset dealing services to both professional and retail customers in the city.
Futu's move comes amid Hong Kong's push to boost its attractiveness as a virtual asset business hub, which has seen the city's government launch a slew of new crypto policy initiatives over the past two years, including a mandatory licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges.
While offering crypto trading on its main brokerage app, Futu is also pursuing a cryptocurrency exchange licence for its new platform PantherTrade. That platform is among 11 in Hong Kong that are currently "deemed to be licensed" for trading crypto, an arrangement that allows them to operate in the city as they await full approval from the SFC.
Hong Kong's progress in becoming a crypto hub has met various challenges, including the exit of large global platforms and relatively low trading activity for the crypto exchange-traded funds offered on the local stock exchange.
Futu is now dangling a range of incentives in front of potential investors amid a crypto bull market, which has seen the price of bitcoin jump 45 per cent this year.
Hong Kong investors who open accounts in August and deposit HK$10,000 (US$1,280) for the next 60 days can receive either bitcoin worth HK$600, a HK$400 supermarket voucher or a single share of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Holding US$80,000 for the same period gets users either HK$1,000 in bitcoin or a share of US artificial intelligence (AI) chip powerhouse Nvidia, whose shares have surged more than 140 per cent this year.
The brokerage is also waiving commission fees for crypto trading starting from Thursday until further notice, a Futu representative said.
Futu is Hong Kong's first online brokerage to let retail investors buy crypto directly on their platform. SFC rules require it to offer this service through a tie-up with a licensed cryptocurrency exchange. Futu is partnering with HashKey Exchange, one of only two licensed exchanges in Hong Kong, according to the representative.
Futu's local rival Tiger Brokers also said in May that it had started offering cryptocurrency trading services to professional investors on its platform following a licence upgrade. The SFC defines professional investors as those with more than HK$8 million in their investment portfolios or corporate entities with assets exceeding HK$40 million.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.