Hashkey Exchange, one of Hong Kong's first licensed cryptocurrency exchanges, has started accepting individual users.
The exchange currently has Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT pairs. In addition, Polygon (MATIC) and Avalanche (AVAX) trading will begin in the coming days, open only to professional traders. These two tokens are considered securities by the SEC.
The exchange, which previously only served professional investors, announced on Monday that it has updated its license from the Securities Futures Commission (SFC) to offer virtual asset trading services to individual clients.
The launch took place during Hong Kong's efforts to strengthen its virtual asset industry and become a global crypto hub. The city has set rules that allow centralized crypto exchanges to serve individual customers, provided they have a license issued by the SFC.
Offerings to retail investors will be limited to only the largest cryptocurrencies, while derivatives trading and stablecoins will not be allowed.
According to COO Livio Weng, Hashkey aims to have 500,000 to 1 million individual users worldwide by the end of this year, and more than 10 million individual users by 2025.
*Not investment advice.