Hong Kong is preparing to roll out four new crypto licenses covering dealing, custody, advisory and management services — and the bill could land on lawmakers’ desks before the end of 2026.
By Ana Gonzalez | October 5, 2026
The Hook: Four Licenses, One Bill, One City Racing Ahead
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui told the Legislative Council Finance Committee during an Oct. 5 policy briefing that the government expects to introduce an amendment bill this year creating licensing regimes for virtual asset dealing, custody, advisory and management. If you hold crypto or plan to, this matters because it determines who can legally touch your coins in one of Asia’s biggest financial hubs — and how protected you are when they do.
The four new regimes would extend regulation far beyond what Hong Kong already licenses today: crypto trading platforms overseen by the Securities and Futures Commission and stablecoin issuers supervised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority under the Stablecoins Ordinance that took effect on Aug. 1, 2025. Think of it like a city that previously licensed only the stock exchange suddenly deciding to license brokers, vaults, consultants and fund managers too.
On-Paper Evidence: What Each License Would Actually Cover
The plan follows consultations completed by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the SFC, and the details are already on the record:
- Dealing — modeled on parts of the Type 1 securities dealing framework, with the SFC licensing and supervising covered firms and securities-style exemptions under consideration.
- Custody — aimed at firms safeguarding private keys belonging to clients, with controls intended to protect customer property, per the December 2025 consultation conclusions.
- Advisory — the SFC said in May the rules would broadly follow Type 4 securities regulation.
- Management — virtual asset management would be modeled on Type 9 asset-management requirements.
Regulators have used a simple principle throughout: “same business, same risks, same rules.” In plain terms, if you give investment advice about crypto, you get held to the same standard as someone advising about stocks.
The consultation record is substantial. Hong Kong began consulting on standalone dealing and custody licenses in June 2025 and received more than 190 responses before publishing conclusions on Dec. 24. A separate consultation on advisory and management closed in January 2026 with 51 responses, with results confirmed in May under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance.
The Core Conflict: Speed Versus Certainty
Here is the part investors should internalize: none of these four licenses exist yet. The legislation must still be introduced to the Legislative Council and pass through the lawmaking process, and authorities have not announced a commencement date. Anyone offering these services in Hong Kong today operates in the gap between the old rules and the new ones.
Regulators are aware of the gap. The SFC has encouraged existing and prospective advisory and management providers to contact the regulator before the law takes effect, so firms can understand the proposed requirements and prepare licensing applications early. That is a softer on-ramp than waiting for enforcement to sort the market out.
Market Implications: Surveillance, Stablecoins and Tokenized Gold
The 2026 Policy Address goes further than licensing. The government said the SFC would issue more detailed regulatory guidance for service providers, licensed platforms are expected to support trading in regulated stablecoins, and rules for tokenized investment products will expand to cover suitable assets — including tokenized gold.
On the monitoring side, the SFC is scheduled to bring a digital asset custody surveillance system into operation during the second half of 2026, with its CrypTech program adding big-data market surveillance and anti-money laundering monitoring components in 2027. Meanwhile the HKMA plans central bank digital currency settlement and 24/7 operations through EnsembleTX around the end of 2026, building on Project Ensemble’s tokenized-money pilot.
For context on how far the stablecoin track has already moved: the HKMA’s 2025 annual report confirmed the first two stablecoin issuer licenses were granted in April 2026, with licensees required to meet standards on reserves, governance, redemption and anti-money laundering controls.
The Verdict: What This Means For You
If you are a retail investor, the practical takeaway is patience plus diligence. A licensing bill is not a law, and a law is not a live regime — but the direction is unmistakable. Hong Kong is building a full-stack regulatory system where every layer of crypto service, from the exchange down to the person advising you on which coin to buy, will need a license and will be watched while holding your assets.
That reduces the chance of another unchecked collapse hitting local investors, and it gives institutions the legal clarity they have been waiting for. The trade-off is that smaller firms may exit rather than absorb compliance costs, which can mean less choice in the short run. Watch the Legislative Council calendar: the moment the amendment bill is tabled, the countdown to Asia’s most comprehensive crypto rulebook officially starts.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
four regimes in one amendment bill is ambitious but hong kong has actually been shipping. stablecoin ordinance went live on schedule aug 2025. singapore must be sweating
custody is the big one for me. dealing rules sort of existed in spirit under type 1, but an actual key custody license means some protection when your vault operator goes bust
custody matters for holders but the advisory license is the sleeper. every family office desk pitching tokenized products needs it and there is no regime today
shipping on schedule is doing a lot of work there, the current vatp regime still has licensing queues measured in months. hope the amendment bill budgets actual staff
watch how many firms grab the advisory license just to pitch mainland money through the back door. hui knows exactly what he is doing here
mainland money finds a way regardless. at least this time it flows through a licensed entity with a paper trail instead of the 2021 grey market
Four licenses in one bill is ambitious. The custody regime is the one that actually matters for everyday holders.
custody rules only help if they force proof of reserves. otherwise its just expensive paperwork
custody without mandatory proof of reserves is just a license to charge custody fees. the SFC had the chance to require it and punted
proof of reserves got punted in the stablecoin ordinance too. at this rate hk will license the vault before anyone can verify whats in it
the punt on proof of reserves is wild when the stablecoin ordinance already punted it too. two chances at mandatory attestations, two passes
two ordinances now and attestations got punted both times. the license tells you who to sue, proof of reserves tells you if theres anything left to sue for. one of those actually protects holders
custody regime with attestations punted to implementation is the whole ballgame. the license sounds great in a briefing and means nothing until someone defines what a custodian has to prove and how often
dealing license modeled on Type 1 is huge for the brokers who fled in 2021. they can finally come back
type 1 modeled dealing license is the tell. the brokers who left in 2021 get a familiar onboarding path back and HK gets the flow. everyone else is negotiating from zero again
advisory plus management in one bill basically writes the wealth management playbook for tokenized funds. the big banks were consulted on this and it shows
the dealing license modeled on Type 1 is the one the brokers who fled in 2021 actually left over. expect the exodus crowd reapplying within a quarter
four regimes in one amendment bill before year end is a lot of drafting for a LegCo that just punted stablecoin attestations twice. i will believe the timeline when first reading happens