Hong Kong launches retail-friendly rules for crypto exchanges

Hong Kong rolled out new rules on Thursday allowing licensed cryptocurrency exchanges to service retail customers, bucking the global trend of tightening rules after last year’s market crash.

The Chinese finance hub is racing regulators around the world to lay down ground rules for crypto after high-profile failures like trading platform FTX, which led the United States to crack down on a sector worth more than $1 trillion.

China has had a strict crypto ban since 2021, but in Hong Kong — which operates on a separate legal framework — trading has been allowed though unregulated, meaning individual investors resort to unlicensed platforms.