Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is gearing up to bolster its cryptocurrency regulatory team for the upcoming fiscal year. According to the recently unveiled budget plan for 2025-26, the SFC intends to add 15 new positions, with eight specifically dedicated to overseeing the virtual assets domain.
The commission’s budget plan indicates that these new roles are designed to strengthen its capability to monitor market activities, undertake enforcement investigations, and maintain compliance in the rapidly evolving crypto sphere.
This proposal coincides with Hong Kong’s broader ambition to establish itself as a pivotal center for cryptocurrency and digital asset innovation. The SFC emphasized that these additional resources will enhance market monitoring and tackle challenges related to licensing and supervision.
Up until now, the SFC has depended on professionals experienced in traditional financial regulations to manage virtual asset activities. However, the growing complexity of the crypto market has underscored the necessity for specialized expertise.
### Increased Budget and Staffing Plans
In preparing for fiscal year 2025-26, the SFC is planning an overall budget of HK$2.59 billion (around $332.4 million). This represents a 7.2% increase from the previous year’s estimate, primarily driven by increased personnel expenses and the creation of new roles. These budgetary changes mirror the rising significance of virtual asset regulation within the SFC’s broader objectives.
Acknowledging the current strain on its oversight capacity, the SFC managed to perform on-site inspections for only about 200 licensed entities in 2023, falling short of the 300 they aimed for. Their expansion strategy aims to fill these oversight gaps, ensuring more robust supervision and more frequent inspections of crypto firms licensed in Hong Kong.
### Hong Kong’s Continuing Crypto Oversight
In addition to these staffing expansions and budget increases, the Hong Kong SFC has already made significant strides to enhance its oversight of the region’s cryptocurrency sector.
Recently, for instance, the SFC identified more than a dozen fraudulent platforms pretending to be linked with HashKey, a licensed cryptocurrency trading platform in Hong Kong. HashKey highlighted in a statement:
> “To mislead clients, fraudulent websites will appear under different domain names or with slight modifications or variations of the official HashKey Exchange website address www.hashkey.com by adding a combination of letters, numbers or symbols. HashKey Exchange declares that it has no connection with the aforementioned fraudulent websites. The websites are not affiliated with HashKey Exchange or its affiliates whatsoever. As such, we will not accept liability for any matters relating to the websites.”
The ongoing efforts and developments underscore Hong Kong’s commitment to maintaining a secure and transparent environment for cryptocurrency operations within its jurisdiction.
