Asia

Hong Kong crypto restrictions and exchange access

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, steers residents to crypto platforms licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), while many global exchanges have left or never applied.

Available

of 22 platforms

Limited

of 22 platforms

Restricted

of 22 platforms

Regulator

SFC (Hong Kong)

Top exchanges by access score

Last updated 20 Oct 2026

Close-up map of the Pearl River estuary with Hong Kong shaded limited overall, between Shenzhen in mainland China to the north and Macao to the west. Beside it: 8 of 22 tracked platforms refuse Hong Kong residents; the Securities and Futures Commission has licensed 13 virtual asset trading platforms, none of them a platform we track; the HKMA has licensed 2 stablecoin issuers; Hong Kong has no capital gains tax.

Is crypto legal in Hong Kong?

In practice yes. We found no rule that bans residents from owning or trading crypto, but the SFC tells investors to use only SFC-licensed platforms, and running an unlicensed platform for Hong Kong customers is a criminal offence.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China with its own financial regulators, so the rules below are Hong Kong’s, not the mainland’s. The licensing rules for trading platforms sit in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO). The SFC said in a statement updated on 28 May 2024 that every platform serving Hong Kong must be licensed or a deemed-to-be-licensed applicant, and that operating in breach of the AMLO is a criminal offence. The footer of its register of platforms urges investors to trade virtual assets only on SFC-licensed platforms.

So the law works on the platform side, not the customer side. The sections below cover who holds a licence, what licensed platforms may sell, and how profits are taxed.

Which crypto exchanges work in Hong Kong?

None of the exchanges we track holds an SFC licence. Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp and Bitfinex serve Hong Kong residents with no entry on the SFC lists, Binance serves them without derivatives, and Crypto.com serves them through its app only.

The SFC’s register of 16 October 2026 lists 13 licensed platforms: OSL Exchange (15 December 2020), HashKey Exchange (9 November 2022) and eleven more since October 2024, the latest being Bixin.com on 18 May 2026. None is a platform we track. The same page says deemed-to-be-licensed applicants are not formally licensed: Crypto.com (through Foris DAX HK, submitted 9 February 2024) is one, and WhaleFin is marked as having ceased business. Bybit’s second application, submitted on 6 June 2025, is on the list of applicants that the SFC says are not licensed.

The register also records who left. It shows applications withdrawn by the OKX Hong Kong company on 24 May 2024, Gate.HK on 22 May 2024, Huobi HK on 14 May 2024 and Bybit’s first company on 31 May 2024. Matrixport HK withdrew on 12 October 2026 and has until 12 January 2027 to close its Hong Kong business.

Binance has no entry on any of the SFC’s lists, and Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp and Bitfinex have none either. A missing SFC entry is not a ruling that a service is allowed. Treat the label as a risk: a platform outside the licensing regime is outside the protections it is built to give.

Best crypto platforms for Hong Kong residents

By our access score, Bitfinex, Bitstamp and Kraken (8.0 out of 10 each) are the exchanges most open to Hong Kong residents, followed by Coinbase (7.5), and all six DeFi platforms we track and both prediction markets also score 8.0.

The score rates how fully a Hong Kong resident can use each platform, not its fees or safety. It is computed from our data and moves when a row changes: access status (4 points), the share of the platform’s products open here (3), the Hong Kong licences we hold on file (2) and what our geo-access test saw from a Hong Kong address (1). Platforms that refuse Hong Kong residents are not scored. The full method is on our methodology page.

Exchanges

Bitfinex
Best for Spot access without a Hong Kong company
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms
Cons
- No entry on the SFC lists
Read our Bitfinex report
Bitstamp
Best for Plain spot trading
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- No Bitstamp document excludes Hong Kong
Cons
- No entry on the SFC lists
Read our Bitstamp report
Kraken
Best for Spot trading outside the licensing regime
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not on its do-not-serve list
Cons
- No entry on the SFC lists
Read our Kraken report
Coinbase
Best for Spot trading with a clear sign-up path
7.5/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is a listed sign-up country in its identity verification guide
Cons
- No entry on the SFC lists
- Our test showed a notice that stocks and prediction markets are unavailable
Read our Coinbase report
Binance
Best for Spot trading when you need no derivatives
5.7/10
Access
3/4
Products
1.7/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not on its list of prohibited countries
Cons
- Futures, options, margin and leveraged tokens closed since August 2021
- No entry on the SFC lists
Read our Binance report
Crypto.com
Best for Buying in the app
4.3/10
Access
3/4
Products
0.8/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
0.5/1
Pros
- The app serves Hong Kong
Cons
- Exchange spot trading and derivatives exclude Hong Kong
- Its local company is only a deemed applicant, not licensed
Read our Crypto.com report

DeFi

Aster
Best for Perpetuals and spot trading
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not on its prohibited-jurisdictions list
Cons
- No Hong Kong licence on file
Read our Aster report
Hyperliquid
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Not blocked in our geo-access test
Cons
- No Hong Kong licence on file
Read our Hyperliquid report
Jupiter
Best for Solana swaps
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not named in its terms
Cons
- No Hong Kong licence on file
Read our Jupiter report
Lighter
Best for Perpetuals on its main app
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- The main trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No Hong Kong licence on file
Read our Lighter report
PancakeSwap
Best for BNB Chain swaps and pools
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not excluded by its terms
Cons
- No Hong Kong licence on file
Read our PancakeSwap report
Uniswap
Best for Swapping tokens from your own wallet
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Its terms bar only places under comprehensive US sanctions
Cons
- No Hong Kong licence on file
Read our Uniswap report

Prediction markets

Kalshi
Best for Event contracts, with legal risk
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not on its restricted-jurisdictions list
Cons
- An SFC subsidiary says using it may constitute illegal gambling
Read our Kalshi report
Polymarket
Best for Event contracts, with legal risk
8.0/10
Access
4/4
Products
3/3
Licences
0/2
Our test
1/1
Pros
- Hong Kong is not on its blocked-countries list
Cons
- An SFC subsidiary says using it may constitute illegal gambling
Read our Polymarket report

Which platforms block Hong Kong users?

OKX, Bybit, Gemini, KuCoin, Bitget, Gate, MEXC and HTX refuse Hong Kong residents in their own terms or notices. No prediction market or DeFi platform we track does.

Three of them left around the SFC’s 2024 licensing deadline. OKX told users it was withdrawing its Hong Kong licence application on 24 May 2024 and stopped serving residents on 31 May 2024. The SFC register shows Gate.HK and Bybit’s first Hong Kong company withdrawing in the same fortnight, and both platforms now list Hong Kong as excluded in their current terms. MEXC is a different case: the SFC’s alert list names it twice, on 9 February and 15 March 2024, as an entity unlicensed in Hong Kong, and the list also holds an entity called Bitget Pro. The alert list is not a ruling on a platform’s legality elsewhere, and it names a platform only when the SFC has noticed it.

Platforms that refuse Hong Kong residentsPick one to see what its terms say

Platform	Status	Type	What the terms say	Hong Kong option
OKX	Restricted	Exchange	Withdrew its Hong Kong licence application on 24 May 2024 and stopped serving residents on 31 May 2024	–
Bybit	Restricted	Exchange	On Bybit’s excluded-jurisdictions list (terms effective 16 October 2026)	–
Gemini	Restricted	Exchange	Not on either of Gemini’s lists of supported countries	–
KuCoin	Restricted	Exchange	On the restricted-locations list in KuCoin’s terms of use (29 September 2026)	–
Bitget	Restricted	Exchange	On Bitget’s prohibited-countries list (16 October 2026)	–
Gate	Restricted	Exchange	On the restricted-locations list in Gate’s user agreement (22 July 2026)	–
MEXC	Restricted	Exchange	On the prohibited-jurisdictions list in MEXC’s user agreement (13 October 2026); named on the SFC alert list	–
HTX	Restricted	Exchange	On the all-services restricted list in HTX’s user agreement (September 2026)	–

Source: platform terms and notices, SFC alert list, verified 17 October 2026. What each site showed us is in the next section.

What our geo-access test saw from Hong Kong

From a Hong Kong address on 14 and 16 October 2026 we loaded all 22 platforms we track: 3 refused us, 3 showed a notice and 16 loaded with no barrier.

An open page is not permission. KuCoin, Bitget, Gate and Gemini loaded although their terms or lists exclude Hong Kong, because most platforms enforce at identity verification rather than at the page. OKX, Bybit and MEXC refused the page outright. The three notices were of different kinds: HTX said its products are not intended for users in Hong Kong, China, Crypto.com’s Exchange page pointed to the lists of excluded places, and Coinbase said stocks and prediction markets are not available. Swipe through the screenshots below; each card quotes what the page showed.

Who regulates crypto in Hong Kong?

The SFC licenses trading platforms and sets what they may offer, the HKMA licenses stablecoin issuers, the police enforce the Gambling Ordinance, and the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) sets how tokens are taxed.

SFC. It licenses platforms under the AMLO and keeps the register and alert list above. On 19 February 2025 it published its ASPIRe roadmap, five pillars named access, safeguards, products, infrastructure and relationships, and later SFC circulars on products and perpetual contracts cite it.
Products circular. A circular of 3 November 2025 lets licensed platforms offer stablecoins from licensed issuers to retail investors and distribute tokenised securities, while the 12-month track record rule still applies to retail offerings of other virtual assets.
HKMA. The regime for stablecoin issuers took effect on 1 August 2025. On 10 April 2026 it granted the first two licences, to Anchorpoint Financial Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, and said they would begin operating within months.
Pending law. The SFC’s roadmap aimed for custody legislation by the end of 2025. A joint release concluded the government and SFC consultations on virtual asset dealer and custodian regimes and opened another on advisory and management services, with comments due on 23 January 2026. We found no sign that a bill had passed by 17 October 2026.
Police and the IFEC. The police enforce the Gambling Ordinance; the Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC), an SFC subsidiary, warns the public. Both are covered in the prediction markets section.
IRD. The tax authority, covered in the tax section.

Which crypto products are limited in Hong Kong?

Derivatives are the most closed product: Binance has closed futures, options and margin to Hong Kong since August 2021, Crypto.com’s Exchange excludes Hong Kong, and the SFC says perpetual contracts on licensed platforms are for professional investors only.

Derivatives. Binance closed new derivatives accounts to Hong Kong users in August 2021, followed by a 90-day wind-down. The SFC’s perpetuals framework of 11 February 2026 says licensed platforms should offer perpetual contracts only to professional investors, with margin received in full before an order is accepted and no credit for margin.
Spot trading on Crypto.com. Crypto.com lists Hong Kong on its Exchange spot and derivatives geo-restrictions (updated 7 May 2025), yet the app serves Hong Kong.
Stablecoins and tokenised products. Licensed platforms may offer licensed-issuer stablecoins to retail investors and distribute tokenised securities under the 3 November 2025 circular. None of the platforms we track is licensed, so none uses that route.
Staking and lending. We hold no Hong Kong source for staking or lending at any tracked platform, which is why the matrix shows them as not confirmed.
Prediction markets. Coinbase’s page told our test that prediction markets are not available. Polymarket and Kalshi do not exclude Hong Kong in their terms.

Are prediction markets legal in Hong Kong?

Possibly not. On 17 April 2026 the SFC’s investor education arm said trading on prediction markets such as Polymarket or Kalshi in Hong Kong may constitute illegal gambling, although both platforms still serve Hong Kong.

The statement came from the IFEC, as The Standard reported on 17 April 2026. It also said participants do not have the protections of the Securities and Futures Ordinance and have little or no way to seek recourse. The report names no penalty and no enforcement action, and we found neither a block of the platforms nor a case against a user.

The penalties come from a separate source. A police release of 16 July 2024 about illegal bookmaking, citing the Gambling Ordinance (Cap. 148), says betting with a bookmaker carries a maximum fine of HK$50,000 and nine months in prison on conviction, and bookmaking or facilitating it carries HK$5 million and seven years. The release does not mention prediction markets, so whether a prediction-market position counts as betting with a bookmaker is the IFEC’s open question, not a court’s ruling.

On the platform side, Polymarket and Kalshi are both recorded as available because neither lists Hong Kong as restricted and both loaded in our test. That is the platform’s position, not the law’s.

How is crypto taxed in Hong Kong?

Trading crypto as a business is taxed as business profit, while the IRD says profits from crypto held as a long-term investment are not chargeable to profits tax. The government says Hong Kong has no capital gains tax.

The IRD’s guidance is DIPN 39 (Revised), dated March 2020. It says payment tokens are not legal tender in Hong Kong and that the tax treatment of a token depends on its nature and use. Trading, exchange and mining are business activities, and Hong Kong-sourced profits from them are chargeable to profits tax. Whether someone is in business is a matter of fact and degree: the IRD looks at how often they trade, how organised the activity is and whether profit is the purpose, and the intention at acquisition is always relevant. Business records must be kept. Crypto accepted as payment is recorded at its market value on the date of the transaction, and crypto paid as salary is employment income at its market value when it accrues. Airdrops and forks received in the course of a crypto business are business receipts. DIPN 39 does not cover staking, DeFi yield, lending or NFTs, so we state no IRD position on them.

The rates are on IRD pages. Profits tax is two-tiered: companies pay 8.25% on the first HK$2 million of profits and 16.5% above, and unincorporated businesses pay 7.5% and 15%. Salaries tax for 2025/26 takes 2%, 6%, 10% and 14% on successive HK$50,000 slices of net chargeable income and 17% on the rest, capped by a standard rate of 15% on the first HK$5 million of net income and 16% above. InvestHK says Hong Kong has no capital gains tax and no sales tax or VAT.

Reporting is changing. A LegCo brief of 20 May 2026 says a bill would bring the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework into force on 1 January 2027, when reporting providers with a Hong Kong link start collecting data, with the first exchange with partner jurisdictions from 2028 once the multilateral agreement is signed. The government aims to pass it by the end of 2026, and we found no sign that it had passed by 17 October 2026. Working out your own position takes four steps:

Working out your crypto tax in Hong KongFor an individual, from IRD DIPN 39

Step	Detail
Decide investor or trader	Frequency, organisation, profit purpose and your intention at acquisition decide it
Keep records	Business records are required for a trade or business
Value each receipt at market value	Use the market value on the transaction date, or when salary in crypto accrues
Declare what is taxable	Hong Kong-sourced trading profit and token pay count; long-term investment gains are not chargeable to profits tax

Source: IRD, DIPN 39 (Revised), checked 17 October 2026.

Sources: SFC (1: Lists of virtual asset trading platforms (updated 16 October 2026), 2: SFC statement on the end of the non-contravention period for virtual asset trading platforms (updated 28 May 2024), 3: Alert list: suspicious virtual asset trading platforms, 4: SFC sets out new roadmap to develop Hong Kong as a global virtual asset hub (19 February 2025), 5: Circular on expansion of products and services of virtual asset trading platforms (3 November 2025), 6: A high-level framework for virtual asset perpetual contracts offering by virtual asset trading platforms (11 February 2026), 7: FSTB and SFC conclude consultations on virtual asset dealer and custodian regimes, further consult on two new regimes (December 2025)), HKMA (1: Commencement of the regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers (29 July 2025), 2: First licences granted to stablecoin issuers (10 April 2026)), Hong Kong Police Force: Police press release on illegal bookmaking under the Gambling Ordinance (16 July 2024), The Standard: Trading on prediction markets may be illegal in Hong Kong, SFC says (17 April 2026), IRD (1: DIPN 39 (Revised): Profits tax, digital economy, electronic commerce and digital assets (March 2020), 2: Two-tiered profits tax rates regime: FAQ, 3: Salaries tax: tax rates for the year of assessment 2025/26 (PAM 39(e))), Hong Kong Government: LegCo brief: Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amended Common Reporting Standard) Bill 2026 (20 May 2026), InvestHK: Competitive two-tiered profits tax rate (no capital gains tax, no sales tax or VAT), OKX: Withdrawal of OKX HK's VASP licence application (24 May 2024), The Block: Binance shuts derivatives trading for Hong Kong users (6 August 2021), checked 17 Oct 2026.

Platform availability

Explore which exchanges and prediction markets are available in Hong Kong.

Platform	Type	Spot	Derivatives	Staking	Status	Last verified
Aster	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Binance	Exchange	Limited	Restricted	Limited	Limited	28 Sep 2026
Bitfinex	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Bitget	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	–	Restricted	20 Oct 2026
Bitstamp	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Bybit	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	16 Oct 2026
Coinbase	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Crypto.com	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	–	Limited	17 Oct 2026
Gate	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	–	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
Gemini	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
HTX	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
Hyperliquid	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Jupiter	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Kalshi	Prediction market	–	–	–	Available	17 Oct 2026
Kraken	Exchange	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
KuCoin	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	–	Restricted	16 Oct 2026
Lighter	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
MEXC	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	–	Restricted	17 Oct 2026
OKX	Exchange	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	Restricted	16 Oct 2026
PancakeSwap	DeFi	Available	Available	Available	Available	17 Oct 2026
Polymarket	Prediction market	–	–	–	Available	17 Oct 2026
Uniswap	DeFi	Available	–	–	Available	17 Oct 2026