Two distinguished world exchanges’ subsidiaries — Gate.io and OKX — have withdrawn their purposes for an operational license in Hong Kong within the final two days.
This determination displays a broader development, as eight companies—together with exchanges backed by Binance and HTX—have additionally deserted their licensing efforts within the city-state, in line with a discover on the Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) web site.
In the meantime, the regulator continues to be reviewing purposes from a number of different crypto exchanges, together with Crypto.com, Bullish, and Matrixport. Notably, the SFC has accepted licenses for less than two exchanges within the area, OSL and HashKey.
OKX bows out
In a Could 24 discover, Hong Kong-based crypto change OKX HK introduced the withdrawal of its utility for a Digital Asset Service Supplier (VASP) license within the area. The change said:
“OKX will stop to supply centralized digital asset buying and selling providers to Hong Kong residents by 31 Could 2024 (Friday) in accordance with regulatory necessities. Buyer funds stay secure and withdrawal providers won’t be affected. After 31 Could 2024, clients will solely have the ability to withdraw.”
Consequently, OKX suggested its clients to chorus from making deposits after Could 31, as these deposits is probably not processed mechanically. The change additionally set an Aug. 31 deadline for customers to withdraw their property from its platform.
Gate.HK utility withdrawal
Equally, Gate.io’s Hong Kong unit introduced on Could 23 that it had withdrawn its utility for a digital asset buying and selling platform license.
The agency defined that the choice was a part of a complete platform overhaul technique that may halt the registration of recent customers, deposits, and advertising and marketing actions in Hong Kong. Moreover, the platform intends to delist all main tokens, together with Bitcoin, Polkadot, Ethereum, and others.
The platform mentioned it would stop all buying and selling providers by Could 28 and suggested customers to withdraw their property earlier than Aug. 28.
Launched in 2023, Gate.HK submitted its license utility to the SFC in February in compliance with new rules mandating that exchanges serving Hong Kong clients should receive an operational license within the area.
