Hong Kong's virtual asset market welcomes new opportunities: Guotai Junan International obtaining a license triggers a chain reaction

Recently, the Hong Kong financial market has achieved an important breakthrough. A well-known Chinese brokerage firm has obtained a virtual asset trading service license in Hong Kong, which has attracted widespread attention and strong reactions from the market.

It is reported that the brokerage has been authorized to upgrade its existing securities trading license and add virtual asset trading services. The specific services include providing direct virtual asset trading services, relevant consulting opinions, and issuing and distributing virtual asset-related products, such as over-the-counter derivatives, structured notes, and tokenized securities.

In fact, the company launched structured products based on virtual asset spot ETFs in the Hong Kong market as early as last year and was approved to conduct virtual asset trading platform introduction agent business. The acquisition of the new license aligns perfectly with the "A-S-P-I-Re" regulatory roadmap released by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in February this year, as well as the stablecoin management regulations that will come into effect in August. This series of actions is seen as a concrete implementation of Hong Kong's strategy to build an "international hub for virtual assets."

After the news was announced, the company's stock price surged, at one point rising nearly 200%. This upward trend also boosted the entire Hong Kong Chinese brokerage sector, with related indices increasing by more than 11%. In the A-share market, multiple brokerage stocks also hit their daily limit, indicating investors' keen interest in this sector.

However, industry insiders point out that although the company is the first Chinese securities firm to obtain such a license, it is not the only institution in the market that is laying out virtual asset business. It is understood that several institutions, including some local securities firms, have completed similar license upgrade applications.

The market's strong reaction to this Chinese-funded brokerage is primarily based on its background and potential advantages. As a state-controlled enterprise, it is generally believed that it may enjoy first-mover advantages in terms of policy support and access to funding. At the same time, as the first Chinese-funded brokerage to obtain a full-chain virtual asset service license, it holds a certain level of innovation and symbolic significance.

It is worth noting that most brokers currently do not establish their own exchanges, but instead access trading services by opening comprehensive accounts on licensed platforms. In this model, brokers mainly play the role of front-end channels and brand credibility, while core functions such as trade matching and asset custody are still provided by professional trading platforms.

Although this cooperation model can quickly penetrate the market, it also carries potential risks. Once the trading platform involved in the cooperation experiences technical failures or compliance issues, brokers may find it difficult to independently control risks. At the same time, due to the current limited number of compliant trading platforms, there may be a lack of liquidity, resulting in discrepancies between trading prices and those in the international mainstream markets.

Nevertheless, the acquisition of this license is still seen as an important step for traditional financial institutions towards the integration of blockchain technology. It reflects that the market is shifting from solely focusing on cryptocurrencies to a broader layout of "compliant virtual assets + financial infrastructure." Hong Kong is working to reshape its status as a financial center through regulatory innovation, reserving development space for emerging financial products such as offshore stablecoins.

However, for mainland investors, participating in virtual asset services in Hong Kong still faces many restrictions. Currently, major brokerage firms clearly prohibit investors with mainland Chinese identities from opening accounts to participate in digital asset trading. In the future, as regulations gradually improve, there may be channels opened for qualified investors to participate.

Overall, the issuance of this license marks a further opening of the virtual asset market in Hong Kong, but market participants still need to closely monitor regulatory trends and potential risks.