Hong Kong Set to Allow Crypto Derivatives Trading

Hong Kong Set to Allow Crypto Derivatives Trading

The Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong’s securities regulator, is planning to allow professional investors to trade crypto derivatives, marking a significant expansion of the territory’s virtual asset market offerings, according to a report from China Daily.

Crypto derivatives are a considerably larger market than spot trading. Data from TokenInsight shows that the crypto derivatives market pushed through $21 trillion in volume for the first quarter of the year, compared to $4.6 trillion in spot volume.

Stakeholders in the industry have long called for Hong Kong to license crypto derivatives trading.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post earlier this year, Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer of Deribit, one of the largest derivatives exchanges, said crypto derivatives rules were a missing piece of legislation for Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's legislative council, its parliamentary body, recently passed a bill that would allow for the licensing of stablecoins in the city.