The post Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission approves Guotai Junan Securities to offer virtual-asset trading services appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong), a subsidiary of Guotai Junan International, has reportedly secured approval to offer virtual-asset trading services, making it officially the first Chinese mainland brokerage in Hong Kong to do so.  The mainland China brokerage firm upgraded its Type 1 license for dealing in securities to include virtual-asset trading, allowing access to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The ease of the approval suggests more will follow in the future According to the company’s statement on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission granted the approval on Tuesday, after which the firm’s Type 1 license for dealing in securities was upgraded to provide virtual-asset dealing services under an omnibus account arrangement with SFC-licensed platforms. Now that it has been upgraded, the brokerage’s clientele will be able to access trading in major digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins like USDT. When the news broke, investors reacted by driving Guotai Junan International’s shares up by nearly 200%. The stock closed at HK$3.7 (47 US cents) on Wednesday. Hua Chuang Securities also revealed that the SFC approval was granted sooner than expected, and has predicted that in the future, when more mainland brokerages with international branches try to upgrade their Type 1 licenses, things will move at a similar pace. The firm expects more leading brokerages, especially those with a strong client base, to consider expanding their respective businesses to cover digital assets. Not only is it the right time, it is the right place to do so. Hong Kong is widely acknowledged for its favorable conditions, which make Hua Chuang Securities confident in the potential of the city to continue improving its virtual-asset ecosystem. The sentiment was echoed in a report from Futu Securities, which noted that stablecoins have the potential to influence the upscaling of Chinese brokerages’…

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Filed under: News - @ June 25, 2025 9:29 pm