On June 6, Hong Kong announced 1 applicants who were deemed-to-be-licensed. Previously, Binance OKX HTX Bybit Gate and others withdrew their applications.
Wu said that the reason is that the Hong Kong SFC requires all applicants for virtual asset trading platform licenses to sign a letter of commitment, promising that none of its entities can have mainland Chinese users in any region. This requirement makes it impossible for traditional offshore exchanges to meet it. OKX tried to form an industry alliance to oppose this requirement but ultimately failed.
However, industry insiders said that the withdrawn entity can update the legal entity or framework and apply again in the future, but it should not be able to apply using a brand similar to that of an offshore exchange.
Currently, a total of 11 platforms including HKbitEX, PantherTrade, Accumulus, DFX Labs, Bixincom, xWhale, YAX, Bullish, Cryptocom, WhaleFin, and Matrixport HK have become applicants for licensing.
Hong Kong's move has also attracted criticism. Hong Kong Legislative Council member Qiu Dagen wrote in the Hong Kong Economic Journal today that OKX's withdrawal has caused a lot of discussion in the industry, questioning whether Hong Kong has the real determination to develop and embrace Web3. The current applicants (mostly) are very small in scale. Hong Kong cannot retreat to the safety line from the beginning and want to promote so-called innovation with zero risk.