Hong Kong financial affairs chief vows to move ahead with regulating stablecoins, over-the-counter crypto trading
- The government will submit a bill on licensing rules for stablecoin issuers and OTC trading services to the legislature ‘as soon as practicable’
- Hong Kong police have arrested 70 people involved in the JPEX case, although prosecution has yet to begin, official says

The government will submit bills on licensing rules for OTC trading services and stablecoin issuers to the Legislative Council “as soon as practicable”, wrote Christopher Hui Ching-yu, secretary for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), in a reply to queries from lawmaker Carmen Kan Wai-mun on Wednesday.
Hong Kong is contending with a surge of crypto scams that have defrauded local retail investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars, as the city seeks to polish its image as a global virtual-asset hub and attract relevant businesses to set up shop.
The number of virtual-asset-related criminal cases more than doubled between 2021 and 2023, rising from just under 1,400 in 2021 to over 3,400 last year, according to Hui. The money involved jumped more than fivefold from HK$824 million in 2021 to over HK$4 billion last year.