Trillion-dollar giant gets on board! China Merchants Bank's subsidiary, China Merchants Securities International, officially operates a licensed crypto exchange in Hong Kong, simultaneously launching the tokenization of RWA funds on the Solana blockchain.

CMB International, a subsidiary of China’s leading bank China Merchants Bank (A-share market capitalization of $153.16 billion), officially launched a licensed virtual asset exchange in Hong Kong on August 18, authorized by the VASP license approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in July. The platform supports 24/7 trading of BTC, ETH, and USDT, currently open only to professional investors. It also announced a collaboration with the Solana ecosystem to tokenize the Hong Kong-Singapore Mutual Recognition Fund (HHMRF) through the DigiFT and OnChain platforms, marking a deep engagement of traditional financial institutions (TradFi) in the encryption asset and RWA (real-world asset) sectors through Hong Kong's compliance channels.

The licensed exchange of China Merchants Bank is launched, and Hong Kong's crypto hub takes another significant step.

China's eighth largest bank, China Merchants Bank, which has an asset management scale exceeding USD 1.7 trillion, officially launched its licensed virtual asset exchange through its Hong Kong subsidiary, CMB International Securities Limited, on August 18, 2025. This move is based on the virtual asset service provider (VASP) license approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in mid-July, marking a significant event for traditional financial giants entering the encryption market through Hong Kong's compliance channel. According to the official announcement, the exchange provides 24/7 trading services for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT). It's worth noting that access is currently limited to Professional Investors, highlighting its initial service positioning for high-net-worth institutional clients. The current market capitalization of China Merchants Bank's A-shares is approximately 153.16 billion USD, and its cross-border layout strengthens Hong Kong's strategic position in building a global digital asset hub, contrasting sharply with the regulatory environment in mainland China that has prohibited cryptocurrency trading since 2017.

On-chain fund tokenization breaks the ice, Solana ecosystem receives endorsement from TradFi

Zhao Zheng International simultaneously announced the exploration of the tokenization of assets, with its first move being the launch of the CMBMINT currency market fund in cooperation with the public chain Solana. The official X account of Solana disclosed that Zhao Zheng International has realized the tokenization of the fund under the Hong Kong-Singapore Mutual Recognition of Funds (HK-Singapore Mutual Recognition of Funds, HHMRF) program on the Solana chain. The tokenized fund is jointly launched through the Singapore licensed RWA exchange DigiFT and the Solana ecosystem RWA service provider OnChain. This collaboration highlights the trend of accelerated integration between traditional Financial Institutions and encryption technology, introducing blockchain efficiency solutions for a cross-jurisdictional fund distribution system valued at over $20 billion. The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong, Hui Ching-yu, expressed support for this: "We encourage traditional Financial Institutions to participate in the virtual asset market in a compliant manner," emphasizing that the regulatory framework needs to balance investor protection with innovation vitality.

Conclusion

The launch of the exchange affiliated with China Merchants Bank and the introduction of on-chain RWA funds represent a dual milestone in the implementation of Hong Kong's virtual asset policy. On one hand, licensed exchanges provide regulated encryption asset trading channels for professional investors; on the other hand, the fund tokenization practices based on Solana open feasible pathways for on-chain TradFi assets worth trillions of dollars. If this model is successful, it will attract more traditional Financial Institutions in the Asia-Pacific region to explore on-chain financial innovation via Hong Kong as a springboard, profoundly reshaping the regional digital asset competitive landscape.