Hong Kong's government has reaffirmed it will submit a crypto licensing amendment bill to lawmakers before the end of 2026, covering digital asset dealing, custody, advisory and management services. The bill carries no transitional grace period for unlicensed firms and follows the city's first stablecoin issuer licenses, granted in April.
According to Cointelegraph: Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, said the government will submit an amendment bill "within this year" to license digital asset dealing, custody, advisory and management services. He made the comments at an October 5, 2026 policy briefing before the Legislative Council Finance Committee. The four regimes would extend oversight into areas that have so far sat outside the city's main crypto framework.
Four categories under one framework
Hong Kong's bill comes jointly from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Securities and Futures Commission, structured as an amendment under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, known as Cap. 615. All four licensing regimes would sit under SFC supervision. Dealing covers over-the-counter trading desks that match large buyers and sellers away from public exchange order books, custody targets firms holding private keys for clients, advisory applies to businesses giving advice on virtual assets, and management captures portfolio management services for digital assets. Hui attributed the four categories to innovation in financial technology.
No grace period for unlicensed firms
Yet the proposal includes no transitional or grandfathering provisions, and firms without existing licensing from the SFC or the Hong Kong Monetary Authority may be required to stop operating once the rules take effect. Consultations on the dealing and custody regimes drew more than 190 responses, with conclusions published on December 24, 2025. The advisory and management consultations attracted 51 responses, with conclusions released on May 26, 2026.
Second licensing push since 2023
Hong Kong began licensing virtual asset trading platforms in 2023, and its Stablecoins Ordinance took effect on August 1, 2025. In January, Hui had said regulators planned to submit a draft proposal before the end of 2026, while the HKMA had begun processing license applications for stablecoin issuers. By April, the HKMA had granted its first stablecoin issuer licenses to Anchorpoint Financial and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Crypto Briefing
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