Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is weighing whether it should allow retail investors to buy & sell crypto on local trading platforms, the South China Morning Post reports.
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Elizabeth Wong, Director of Licensing and Head of Fintech Unit at the SFC, said that the regulator is considering allowing retail investors to "directly invest into virtual assets." So far, only accredited investors with a portfolio of at least $1 million can trade cryptocurrencies on centralized exchanges. She said:
"We've had four years of experience in regulating this industry [...] We think that this may be actually a good time to really think carefully about whether we will continue with this professional investor-only requirement."
Wong also believes that the "one country, two systems" principle can help the region to create new opportunities in crypto for Hong Kong while China is censoring the market. She declined to elaborate though on when exactly the SFC might give retail investors the green light.
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