Hong Kong’s Virtual Bank Embraces Crypto Conversion Services – Finance Bitcoin News

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ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s largest virtual-only lender, is looking to expand its business into the region’s burgeoning digital assets sector. The banking platform will provide crypto-to-fiat currency conversions and account services as soon as the Chinese financial centre looks to embrace the industry.

ZA Bank Aiming to Provide Crypto Services You can also find out more about the following: Licensed Exchanges The following are some examples of how to use Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s first and largest virtual bank, co-founded by Chinese billionaire Ou Yaping, is looking to facilitate transfers of digital and fiat currencies for participants in the city’s evolving crypto sector, Bloomberg reported citing the lender’s top executive.

According to CEO Ronald Iu, ZA Bank will act as a settlement institution for customers who have deposited digital coins on the trading platforms but want to withdraw them as Hong Kong Dollars or Chinese yuan. Iu stated:

We’ve got a dozen interested companies, large or small, local and foreign, all looking for ways to make the project work.

The report indicates that ZA Bank is already working with two of the currently licensed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong, Hashkey OSL. The company intends to offer the service to other platforms as they receive permits to operate in China’s special administrative region.

In spite of its recent struggles, Hong Kong is opening itself up to the crypto world in a post-pandemic world. The city wants to regain its status as a global financial hub by transforming into a cryptohub.

There are signs that Hong Kong’s push into the crypto market has the backing of Beijing. The crackdown against crypto-related activities on the mainland has not deterred. Reports in late March showed that state-owned Chinese banks in the city are ready to help crypto companies. One of China’s largest insurers supported the launch of two crypto-focused funds in early April.

Hong Kong officials are developing a new legal framework to allow cryptocurrency exchanges to be opened to retail investors. The region’s financial regulators are also taking steps to improve banking services access for crypto companies.

Currently, ZA Bank will only engage with licensed digital asset exchanges. It is conducting anti-money laundering (AML) checks consistent with current requirements and hasn’t had any AML issues over the past months, according to its Alternate Chief Executive Devon Sin.

The virtual bank opens online accounts for Web3 startup companies and other small to medium businesses. A report on the trial revealed that about 100 of these companies now have access to their services.

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What can we expect in terms of Hong Kong continuing to improve banking services access for crypto companies? Please let us know in the comments below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from a tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Other sources of inspiration include blockchain, crypto and fintech as well as international politics and economy.

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