Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Calls for Regulation of NFTs

The Hong Kong regulator warns investors of risks associated with investing in non-fungible tokens

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • The agency’s main concern lies in the securitization of NFTs
  • Only licensed institutions can operate collective investment schemes

A Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission statement published on Monday defines which NFTs fall under its mandate, while advising investors to be mindful of regulated securities.

The statement warned of risks such as “illiquid secondary markets, volatility, opaque pricing, hacking and fraud,” and cautioned that if investors “cannot fully understand them and bear the potential losses, they should not invest in NFTs.”

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is particularly concerned about assets that “push the boundary between a collectible and a financial asset” — those that are structured like a security or a collective investment scheme (CIS). 

A CIS is a type of investment arrangement to pool money around a certain asset or property. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) specifies that a CIS is managed in escrow, and its participants do not have day-to-day control over its management but are subject to receive profits, income or other returns. 

A recent example includes the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp’s fractionalization and security token offering on the Polygon blockchain of James Ensor’s 1924 painting “Carnaval de Binche.”

While such fractionalized NFTs (non-fungible tokens) fall under the SFC’s mandate, NFTs of a digital image, artwork, music or video that represent a unique copy of an underlying asset do not.

The financial regulator stated that any Hong Kong residents who wish to issue NFTs or to target local investors must obtain a license from the SFC, or be subject to certain authorization requirements under the SFO.

Recently, Hong Kong also limited the sale of crypto spot ETFs to only professional investors, which it defined as those whose portfolio exceeds 8 million Hong Kong dollars (about $1.2 million). And the Hong Kong Monetary Authority deemed “payments-related stablecoins” as a risk to financial stability.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

tg trading bot report graphic.png

Research

Telegram trading bots have found their primary niche in highly speculative token launches and retail-dominated memecoin markets, with many features specifically tailored to token sniping and copy-trading strategies.

article-image

Ethereum is hoping that increased DA will grow user demand — and its profits through DA fees

article-image

11 years ago, Bitcoin contributors prevented a supply crisis… two centuries from now

article-image

Both samczsun and ZachXBT have issued warnings after the Bybit hack last month

article-image

The investor criticized Michael Saylor’s plan to render his personal bitcoin holdings inaccessible to anyone else forever

article-image

The exchange has structural defenses and protocols to limit manipulations

article-image

Upshift is being spun out of August, which raised $10 million earlier this month