ChainCatcher news, according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange announcement, the family of Deng Chengbo has sold a 6.8% stake in the Hong Kong virtual asset exchange (HKVAX) for HKD 15 million through its listed company, Easy Communication. The buyers are Lean Group and businessman Liang Dehui, who purchased approximately 3.8% and 3% stakes in HKVAX for HKD 8.4 million and HKD 6.6 million, respectively.According to information from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, HKVAX was granted a virtual asset trading platform license on October 3 of this year, allowing it to operate business in Hong Kong or promote its services to Hong Kong investors.

ChainCatcher news, the virtual asset exchange Bithumb announced that its operating profit for the third quarter of 2024 was 7.4 billion won (5.26 million USD), turning around from an operating loss of 650 million won in the same period last year. Revenue was 68.9 billion won (49.01 million USD), an increase of 112.7% year-on-year. The net profit for the period was 3.1 billion won, reversing from a net loss of 10.6 billion won in the same period last year.A Bithumb representative stated: "With the overall increase in attention to virtual assets, investor sentiment has recovered, and the number of virtual asset trading users has also increased, leading to improved performance."

ChainCatcher news, HashKey Exchange continues to hold its position as the largest licensed virtual asset exchange in Hong Kong. As of October 16, according to the latest data from Coingecko, HashKey Exchange ranks among the top 8 global exchanges, making it the highest-ranked licensed virtual asset exchange in Hong Kong.HashKey Exchange's total trading volume has surpassed HKD 538 billion, with user assets exceeding HKD 5 billion, marking significant breakthroughs in multiple business areas for the company. Notably, with in-depth cooperation with several leading brokerages, HashKey Exchange's Omnibus brokerage services have seen substantial growth, with total trading volume reaching HKD 3.3 billion as of October 17, and a quarterly growth rate of 1272%. As a core brokerage service provider in Hong Kong, HashKey Exchange will continue to focus on providing convenient, secure, and efficient virtual asset deposit and withdrawal functions for brokerage investors in the future.Additionally, in celebration of its first anniversary, HashKey Exchange launched trading for Avalanche (AVAX) and Chainlink (LINK) to Hong Kong retail investors on August 28. This marks the first addition of new trading tokens in Hong Kong since the start of retail trading in August 2023, aside from Bitcoin and Ethereum. HashKey Exchange has submitted its third batch of trading token applications to regulators and plans to continue expanding the range of assets available for retail trading, offering diversified investment options to the market and investors.

ChainCatcher news, Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX) has become the third cryptocurrency exchange to obtain a license from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, serving retail customers, and is also the third exchange in Hong Kong to obtain a full license.HKVAX has obtained a Type 1 (Securities Trading) and Type 7 (Providing Automated Trading Services) Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) license, as well as anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing licenses to operate the virtual asset trading platform.

ChainCatcher news, Hong Kong listed company Easy Communication has released its 2024 interim report, which discloses that Easy Communication has purchased shares in Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange Limited ("VAX") for HKD 12.9 million, investing in VAX.VAX is a non-listed company that is currently applying to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for a Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (providing automated trading services) regulated activity license under the Securities and Futures Ordinance to regulate virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong. As of June 30, 2024, Easy Communication Group holds 165,385 shares, with a book value of approximately HKD 1,543,000.

ChainCatcher news, the Financial Services Commission of Korea requires virtual asset exchanges that have ceased operations to sign "virtual asset business insurance." Some closed exchanges, such as Gdac and Hanbitco, have already purchased insurance, while others, like Huobi Korea, are considering buying insurance.The insurance for virtual asset service providers is intended to help businesses cope with risks such as hacking attacks and system failures. Last month, with the implementation of the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act," purchasing insurance became a mandatory requirement.According to the "User Protection Act," continuing operations without accumulating reserves or without joining an insurance policy with a compensation limit of at least 5 billion won will result in fines and the inability to continue operations.

ChainCatcher news, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea urgently summoned five major virtual asset exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb, to discuss the issue of deposit utilization rates.This move stems from the recent intensification of rate competition among exchanges, especially after Bithumb temporarily raised the annual interest rate to 4.0% and then retracted it. The FSS emphasized that utilization rates should be calculated reasonably and required exchanges to provide detailed reports on deposit operations and rate calculation methods.

ChainCatcher news, as the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" came into effect in July, South Korean financial authorities announced a collaboration with virtual asset exchanges to develop "Continuous Abnormal Trading Monitoring Guidelines." The Financial Supervisory Service has established a unified trading data table standard that can detect abnormal trading, and each exchange has also set up computer systems. The main newly added trading information accumulation items include market information and trading order intermediary information.In addition, a reporting system has been established between the financial regulatory authority and the exchanges. The exchange plans to detect abnormal trading through a regular monitoring system and identify suspicious unfair trading by analyzing sales data, account opening information, order media information, and deposit and withdrawal information.

ChainCatcher news, the new CEO of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Group, Charles Li, stated in an interview with the Shanghai Securities Journal that the competitors of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange come not only from other securities market exchanges but also from outside the industry, such as virtual asset exchanges. Customer demand is evolving, and technological innovation is rapid. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange must maintain a balance between daring to innovate and business stability, continuously expanding its resources for listed companies and enhancing market services.

ChainCatcher news, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea has issued a legislative notice regarding the formulation of the "Regulations for the Enforcement of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act" and the "Regulations for the Supervision of the Virtual Asset Industry," both of which detail the legal authorizations.The contents include: First, the addition of objects not applicable to the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act," such as deposit tokens linked to CBDC and NFTs; second, clarification of the user deposit management institutions and their operational methods; 80% of users' virtual assets must be stored in cold wallets; fourth, the establishment of standards for mutual insurance or accumulated reserves to address responsibilities for incidents such as hacking and computer failures; fifth, defining possible points in time for the leakage of undisclosed important information and insider trading based on the characteristics of the virtual asset market; sixth, in principle, arbitrary freezing of users' virtual asset deposits and withdrawals is prohibited, with exceptions allowed for specified circumstances; seventh, the obligation for virtual asset exchanges to monitor abnormal trading and establish a penalty procedure for unfair trading behaviors.It is reported that the formulation of these enforcement and regulatory regulations is expected to be announced legislatively from December 11, 2023, to January 22, 2024, and will come into effect on July 19, 2024, after review by the National Tax Service and other procedures.

ChainCatcher news, according to reports, the Hong Kong government stated that it will announce the details of the "Capital Investor Entry Scheme" by the end of the year.In this regard, Legislative Council member from the technology and innovation sector, Kenneth Fok, hopes that the authorities can clarify the scope of assets, such as listing Bitcoin traded on licensed virtual asset exchanges as financial products.

ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Kong media "Ming Pao," the Chief Financial Officer of Hong Kong licensed virtual asset exchange OSL, Hu Zhenbang, stated that the APP development work has been completed and various security tests are currently underway, with the expectation of launching in the app store within this month.However, Hu Zhenbang mentioned that they are unlikely to launch a platform token, but will focus on artificial intelligence applications. As the APP is gradually improved, more services will be launched in conjunction with market technology.