According to CMB International Securities, the firm is the first Chinese bank-affiliated securities company in Hong Kong approved for compliant BTC, ETH, and USDT trading under new SFC and stablecoin regulations.
CMB International Securities, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, has launched licensed virtual asset trading services in Hong Kong, becoming the first Chinese bank-affiliated securities firm to do so. The platform supports 24/7 trading of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USDT via a mobile app with Know Your Customer verification, leveraging Type 1 and Type 7 licenses approved by Hong Kong’s SFC in July 2025. Operating under the Securities and Futures Ordinance and the new Stablecoin Ordinance effective August 1, the service integrates cold storage, real-time risk monitoring, and third-party audits. It allows investments in virtual assets alongside traditional securities and partners with OKX Planet for technical infrastructure. Future plans include issuing tokenized products such as the CMBMINT money market fund on Solana. The initiative aligns with Hong Kong’s ASPIRe strategy to develop a secure virtual asset ecosystem.