Every licensed crypto exchange in Hong Kong

If you want a licensed crypto exchange in Hong Kong, the shortlist is short: as of 6 October 2026 exactly 13 virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) hold a licence from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The SFC's own list was last updated on 29 May 2026, when it added the 13th licensee, and we checked it again on 6 October 2026: no change, no 14th name. This page mirrors that register in plain English, adds what the SFC page doesn't tell you (which of these platforms a normal retail customer can actually use), and shows how to verify a licence yourself in a couple of minutes.

Why it matters: since 1 June 2023, running a crypto exchange in Hong Kong, or actively marketing one to Hong Kong investors, has required a licence under Part 5B of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615, AMLO). The transitional period ended on 1 June 2024. Operating an unlicensed platform is a criminal offence. Buying crypto is legal for you either way, but only the names below come with Hong Kong regulatory protection.

The 13 SFC-licensed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong

The table lists every licensee in the order the SFC licensed them, with the legal entity (that's the name the SFC register uses, and it often differs from the brand), the CE number you can search for, the licence date, and what we could confirm about retail access. “Retail” means an ordinary investor below the professional investor threshold of an HK$8 million portfolio.

Two things jump out. First, licensing is not the same as retail availability. The SFC licence lets a platform serve retail investors, but several licensees have chosen to focus on professional investors, institutions or other licensed firms. Bullish says outright that its Hong Kong service is limited to qualified investors. Second, three of the most retail-friendly names on the list are not apps you download on their own: PantherTrade, YAX and VDX sit behind the Futubull, Tiger Brokers and VictoryX broker apps, so the account you open is a brokerage account.

We only link the operator websites we could confirm on the operators' own pages: osl.com/hk-en, hashkey.com, panthertrade.com and bullish.com/hk. For the others, start from the SFC list and the Public Register rather than a search result. The reason is simple: look-alike domains are now the SFC's most common alert pattern.

What a licence means for you as a buyer

The SFC's Guidelines for Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operators, in force since 1 June 2023, are what separate a licensed platform from an offshore app. The main protections for a retail customer are these:

• Custody. Client crypto is held by a wholly owned associated entity on trust, with the large majority (originally 98%) in cold storage. Platforms must have insurance or compensation arrangements for client assets.
• Onboarding checks. Before you trade, the platform has to assess your knowledge of virtual assets (and offer training if you fail), profile your risk and set a personal exposure limit.
• Token rules. Retail clients can only trade “eligible large-cap” tokens, meaning tokens included in at least two acceptable indices from at least two independent index providers. That's why retail menus are short: OSL offers four coins to retail (BTC, ETH, SOL and, since 29 July 2026, XRP), and Tiger's YAX offers five (BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, LINK).
• Conduct. Strict conflict-of-interest rules and limits on gifts or incentives to trade.
• Withdrawals. Before you can send coins to your own wallet, the platform must check that you own it, typically by having you sign a message with the wallet or send a small test transfer.

Professional investors (individuals with a portfolio of at least HK$8 million under Cap. 571D) get longer token lists, OTC desks and, since a February 2026 SFC framework, access to perpetual contracts on licensed platforms. Retail investors do not.

Applicants and what “deemed-to-be-licensed” really means

When the regime began, platforms already operating in Hong Kong could keep going while their applications were processed, provided they applied by 29 February 2024. These became “deemed-to-be-licensed” applicants. The SFC is unusually blunt about them on its list page: deemed-to-be-licensed VATP applicants are not formally licensed by the SFC. If a platform tells you it is “licensed in Hong Kong” because it is on the applicant list, it is wrong.

As of 6 October 2026 the applicant list holds six names:

• Foris DAX HK Ltd (Crypto.com), applied 9 February 2024, deemed-to-be-licensed. Not licensed.
• Whalefin Markets Ltd (WhaleFin), applied 21 February 2024, deemed-to-be-licensed. Not licensed.
• Flying Hippo Technologies Ltd (Matrixport HK), applied 26 February 2024, marked deemed but also flagged as having ceased its VATP business.
• HighBlock Ltd (bitV), applied 6 February 2024.
• Nebulas Hong Kong Ltd, applied 25 October 2024.
• Spark Fintech Ltd (Bybit), re-applied 6 June 2025. Not deemed, not licensed, and Bybit has been on the SFC Alert List since 14 March 2024.

Bixin.com shows how the path can end well: its operator NewBX was deemed-licensed from June 2024 and became the 13th licensee on 18 May 2026. Until that day, though, it was not licensed, and the same caution applies to every name still waiting.

Big names that withdrew or never applied

The SFC also keeps a list of applications that were withdrawn or returned. It has 16 entries and the latest is BitMart, withdrawn on 28 August 2025. The ones Hong Kong buyers recognise: Huobi HK (withdrawn 23 February 2024), Gate.HK (22 May 2024), OKX (24 May 2024), Bybit's first application (31 May 2024), HKX (17 July 2024) and HKDAX (9 October 2024). Platforms on this list had to wind down their Hong Kong business.

OKX's own risk disclosure, updated 8 July 2026, names Hong Kong as a restricted location. Binance never applied for a Hong Kong licence and closed derivatives to Hong Kong users back in 2021. International exchanges such as CEX.IO and Kraken don't currently list Hong Kong as unsupported, but they are not SFC-licensed and have never been on the applicant list, so Hong Kong investor protection does not apply. Our brand pages go into each case, for example is Binance legal in Hong Kong and Crypto.com in Hong Kong.

How the list grew: licence timeline

The register grew slowly at first, then in batches once the SFC introduced a faster licensing process at the end of 2024. Here is the history, from the first licence to the last update of the SFC list.

1. 15 Dec 2020OSL becomes the first licensed platform

   Licensed under the earlier voluntary opt-in regime, for professional investors only at the time.

2. 9 Nov 2022HashKey Exchange licensed

   Hash Blockchain Ltd, CE BPL992.

3. 1 Jun 2023AMLO licensing regime begins

   Retail trading allowed on licensed platforms; OSL and HashKey were later the first approved for retail (reported August 2023).

4. 29 Feb 2024Deadline to apply

   Existing operators that applied by this date became deemed-to-be-licensed; the transitional period ended on 1 June 2024.

5. 3 Oct 2024HKVAX licensed

   Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange Ltd, CE BPW549.

6. 18 Dec 2024Four licences in one batch

   HKbitEX, Accumulus, DFX Labs and EX.IO, under the SFC’s faster licensing process.

7. 27 Jan 2025Broker-backed venues

   PantherTrade (Futu) and YAX (Tiger Brokers).

8. 18 Feb – 17 Jun 2025Bullish, then BGE

   Bullish (institutional only) and Hong Kong BGE Ltd.

9. 13 Feb 2026VDX licensed

   Victory Fintech, the first new licence since June 2025.

10. 18 May 2026Bixin.com becomes number 13

    NewBX Ltd. The SFC list was last updated on 29 May 2026 and was unchanged on 6 October 2026.

How to check a crypto licence and spot a clone site

Fake exchanges in Hong Kong rarely invent a brand from scratch any more. They copy a real one. On 14 August 2026 the SFC added about 39 look-alike HashKey domains to its Alert List, including hashkeycom.com, hashkey.art and hash-key.us. On 28 September 2026 it added DFX Labs clones such as dfx.cn and dfxcn.com, after an earlier dfxlabs.org batch in July. Nine EX.IO look-alikes went on in June, and an OSL impostor (osloip.vip) in March 2025. Here is a check that takes two minutes:

1. Start at sfc.hk, not a search ad

   Open the SFC list of virtual asset trading platforms and confirm the platform is under the licensed heading, not the applicants.

2. Match the legal entity and CE number

   Brands and companies differ: HashKey Exchange is Hash Blockchain Ltd (BPL992); VDX is Victory Fintech (BTF116). Note the CE number.

3. Search the Public Register

   The SFC Public Register shows the licence and the firm’s details for that CE number.

4. Check the Alert List for the brand

   Search the SFC suspicious VATP list for the name. If a look-alike of the brand appears there, compare the domain letter by letter.

5. Type the address yourself

   Bookmark the real domain and use it every time. Never follow exchange links from WhatsApp, Telegram, dating apps or “investment mentors”.

One more red flag: anyone who wants you to send USDT to a wallet address to “activate” or “unfreeze” your account. Licensed platforms take HKD deposits through FPS, eDDA or bank transfer into an account in your own name. More on spotting scams in our crypto scams guide.

Banks and brokers that route to licensed platforms

A lot of Hong Kong people now buy crypto without ever opening an exchange account. The SFC and HKMA require banks and brokers that offer crypto to partner only with licensed platforms, usually through an omnibus account: you buy in the app, and the trade is executed and custodied at a licensed VATP. It's convenient, but you usually cannot move the coins to your own wallet.

Victory Securities stands out as one of the few brokers that supports token transfers in and out. ZA Bank and Mox are fiat-only, and Futu and Tiger don't document on-chain transfers for retail. HSBC offers no spot crypto at all, only Hong Kong-listed crypto ETFs. Fees and details for each are in our bank and broker apps guide.

We re-check the SFC list whenever it changes and at least monthly. If you spot a new licensee or a change before we do, the SFC page is always the final word. Weighing up the two big retail exchanges? Read HashKey vs OSL.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. SFC: Lists of virtual asset trading platforms · checked 6 Oct 2026 (page last updated 29 May 2026)
2. SFC: Suspicious virtual asset trading platforms (Alert List) · checked 6 Oct 2026
3. SFC: Public Register of licensed persons · October 2026
4. SFC: Guidelines for Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operators · June 2023
5. OKX: Risk and compliance disclosure (Hong Kong restricted) · updated 8 Jul 2026

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