This wave of regulatory framework in Hong Kong finally includes custody and consulting as well. Highlighting private key management separately, compliant players can breathe a sigh of relief.

According to a Hong Kong Government news release, the Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Chen Haolam, stated on June 1 that, following the rollout of licensing for trading platforms and the stablecoin regulatory regime, the next step will be to comprehensively advance the regulation of virtual asset trading, custody, advisory, and management services, to link up the entire ecosystem. The proposed regime provides that, except for those exempted, any person carrying out relevant businesses in Hong Kong must be licensed by or registered with the Securities and Futures Commission. Among them, the scope of trading, advisory, and management business is broadly consistent with regulated activities under current the Securities and Futures Ordinance—Categories 1, 4, and 9—while custody services focus on the risks associated with private key custody. To ensure regulatory clarity, Hong Kong does not plan to provide a transitional arrangement under which activities are “treated as having already been licensed,” but will leave time for business adjustments, with the goal of submitting a draft amendment ordinance to the Legislative Council this year (2026).