At 5:00 p.m. on 6 November, the SFC issued the "warning on virtual asset futures contracts" (hereinafter referred to as the "warning") and the "position note: monitoring virtual asset trading platforms" (hereinafter referred to as the "position note").

The new rules apply to virtual assets traded and operated in Hong Kong, including at least one central virtual assets exchange platform for securities tokens.The SFC said it would not regulate bitcoin, but only supervise exchange securities token platforms.Bitcoin and other common cryptocurrencies are not securities.

Once licensed, operators of virtual asset trading platforms will be placed in a sandbox supervised by the CSRC.This will mean more frequent reporting,being monitored and being reviewed, which will allow the SFC to highlight areas where internal monitoring and risk management by operators should be improved.If you operate a virtual assets exchange in Hong Kong and offer to trade at least one security token on its platform, you will fall under the jurisdiction of the SFC and will be required to have plates no. 1 and no. 7.

The SFC requires platform operators to ensure that 98 percent of customers' virtual assets are stored in offline wallets, and limit the number of customers' virtual assets held in online wallets to no more than 2 percent.The SFC stipulates that platform operators can only provide their services to professional investors.