Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee stated Wednesday it would enable licensed brokers to supply digital asset margin financing and outlined a framework for buying and selling platforms to supply perpetual contracts to skilled traders.
Underneath the brand new steering, brokers might prolong digital asset financing to securities margin purchasers with ample collateral and powerful credit score profiles. Initially, solely Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) shall be eligible as collateral.
The regulator additionally set out a high-level framework for licensed digital asset buying and selling platforms to develop leveraged perpetual contracts. Entry shall be restricted to skilled traders.
Associates of licensed platforms shall be allowed to behave as market makers, topic to conflict-of-interest guardrails, practical independence and safety controls.
The measures introduce structured leverage and extra liquidity mechanisms into Hong Kong’s supervised crypto market whereas protecting retail entry restricted.
Liquidity focus underneath the ASPIRe roadmap
In a keynote speech at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Eric Yip, the SFC’s govt director of intermediaries, stated the regulator’s digital asset technique has entered a “defining stage” underneath its Entry, Safeguards, Merchandise, Infrastructure and Relationships (ASPIRe) roadmap.
“This 12 months’s focus is on liquidity — cultivating market depth, strengthening worth discovery and constructing investor confidence,” Yip stated.
He stated the margin financing initiative is anchored to the present securities margin framework, together with controls on collateral high quality, focus limits, haircuts and governance.
Yip stated the purpose is to allow “accountable leverage that helps liquidity with out undermining monetary stability,” including that perpetual contracts will observe a principles-based mannequin requiring clear disclosures and powerful inner threat administration.
On affiliate market makers, Yip stated safeguards are designed to “slim spreads, enhance equity and transparency.”
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Broader legislative rollout continues
The newest measures construct on Hong Kong’s broader crypto coverage rollout.
On Jan. 31, authorities introduced plans to submit a draft ordinance overlaying crypto advisory providers in 2026, alongside updates tied to the Organisation for Financial Co-operation and Improvement’s (OECD) Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF).
On Feb. 2, the Hong Kong Financial Authority (HKMA) stated it’s making ready to grant its first stablecoin issuer licenses in March, with preliminary approvals anticipated to be restricted.
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