Key takeaways:
- The financial company Standard Chartered and the institutional cryptocurrency custody platform Zodia are extending their services to Hong Kong.
- Sawyer states that institutional investors are primarily responsible for the demand for cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong.
The financial company Northern Trust, the Japanese SBI Holdings, the British banking behemoth Standard Chartered, and the institutional cryptocurrency custody platform Zodia are all extending their services to Hong Kong.
According to a CNBC report dated October 29, Zodia CEO Julian Sawyer stated that Zodia Custody is expanding its services in Hong Kong in response to the increasing demand for cryptocurrency from institutions.
Sawyer states that institutional investors, as opposed to regular consumers, are primarily responsible for the demand for cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong, which is suitable for Zodia’s crypto custody service.
He said that Zodia’s goals are in line with Hong Kong’s position on cryptocurrencies since the city “sees digital assets as the future and also wants Hong Kong to be a hub.”
Zodia is expanding rapidly throughout Asia; in recent months, it has opened services in Australia, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. Now, it is launching in Hong Kong. According to the CEO of Zodia, what they’re observing is that there are undoubtedly clients in each of those four marketplaces that want to take action. He asserted:
“We also see a lot of other clients and prospects outside those four jurisdictions that want to come in on the institutional side.”
The article states that Zodia will launch its services in Hong Kong gradually and that it will first support a restricted amount of cryptocurrency assets. The report mentions that the company is purportedly in talks to get regulated in the financial district with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Securities and Futures Commission.
In October, the Hong Kong SFC said that it would be revising its policies and guidelines pertaining to the selling of virtual currencies. Virtual assets are now considered “complex products” under the SFC, and they are subject to the same rules as traditional financial products.
