China Central Television Spotlights Hong Kong’s Licensing of Crypto Exchanges

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted a clip on Wednesday from China Central Television. The topic of discussion? Hong Kong’s decision to accept license applications for crypto exchanges that want to serve retail investors.

China Central Television (CCTV) is a government-controlled national television broadcaster. It is often seen as a medium for directly promoting the government’s perspectives and agenda.

Zhao and others claim that this was a “big deal,” adding that similar coverage in the past has contributed to “bull runs.”

The broadcaster notes that starting from June 1, any virtual asset trading platform must apply for a license from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to operate in the country.

Crypto trading companies that are already operating will have nine months starting from the first of June to apply for a license, or else they must cease all operations, CCTV said.

“We saw that online safety is a huge challenge,” Zhong Hui Cai, the head of intermediaries department at the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, said on the broadcast. 

Cai stressed that particular attention will be given to the storage of customer funds and ensuring the absence of any conflicts of interest.

The broadcaster also prominently displayed two images featuring the Bitcoin logo. Another shot contained what appeared to be a screen with Samoyedcoin’s collection of dog NFTs.

China has been notoriously strict with cryptocurrency operations, banning bitcoin in 2013, initial coin offerings in 2017 and bitcoin mining operations in 2021. 

This latest move to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges suggests that there is still interest among citizens in the country to trade digital assets.

Note: Quotes from CCTV were translated from Chinese into English.

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