As of March 14, the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has been added to the warning list of Hong Kong’s Securities & Futures Commission (SFC).“The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today warns the public of an unlicensed virtual asset trading platform (VATP) known as Bybit,” the agency stated, “which offers trading services in crypto-related products in a number of jurisdictions.”Eleven items (Bybit Futures, Bybit Options, Bybit Leveraged Tokens, Dual Assets, Bybit Lending, Bybit Wealth Management, and others) that are provided by the Bybit exchange are included as warnings.
“The SFC is concerned that these products have also been offered to Hong Kong investors and wishes to make it clear that no entity in the Bybit group is licensed by or registered with the SFC to conduct any “regulated activity” in Hong Kong,” said the regulator.
Presently, before they may be made available to Hong Kong residents, goods connected to cryptocurrencies may be classified as securities or futures contracts and need to be licensed by the SFC.The notice dated March 14 pertains to Bybit.com and its proprietor, Bybit Fintech Limited, who is registered in Seychelles. This is not to be confused with https://www.bybit.com.hk, a related domain that is under the ownership of Spark Fintech Limited and does not now offer cryptocurrency services in Hong Kong.Bybit is presently applying for a virtual asset trading operator license (VATP) in Hong Kong through its subsidiary Spark Fintech Limited, according to a story published by Cointelegraph on February 1.The SFC has granted licenses to only two cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong: HashKey Exchange (licensed on November 9, 2022) and OSL Exchange (licensed on December 15, 2020).
The deadline for cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Hong Kong to file a VATP application expired on February 29.Unlicensed businesses must cease operations in the Special Administrative Region by May 31.Similarly, exchanges whose VATP applications have been rejected by the SFC must exit the city within three months.