Hong Kong-listed companies entering the crypto brokerage industry, HabitTrade's nearly ten million USD funding, what signals does it reveal

Crypto broker HabitTrade has just completed nearly $10 million in Series A funding. The funds were led by the Hong Kong-listed company Chizi City Technology, with participation from Bright Venture Capital, StableStock, and other institutions. This is not just a financing round; it also reflects traditional capital’s serious attitude toward on-chain financial tracks.

The Participant Landscape Behind the Funding

The investor lineup in this round of financing is noteworthy:

• Chizi City Technology (Newborn Town): A Hong Kong-listed company, making its first public entry into the crypto brokerage field
• Bright Venture Capital: A professional crypto investment firm
• StableStock: An investor focused on stablecoins and financial infrastructure

Chizi City Technology’s role as the lead investor, given its status as a Hong Kong-listed company, is very significant. It indicates that participants from traditional capital markets are beginning to take on-chain financial infrastructure opportunities seriously, rather than viewing them solely as speculative assets.

HabitTrade’s Positioning and Market Opportunities

HabitTrade positions itself as a “global crypto broker,” with core services including trading, settlement, and asset issuance. More importantly, according to the latest news, the company supports both on-chain and off-chain workflows for US stocks. What does this mean? It’s building a bridge that enables traditional stock markets and on-chain finance to interconnect.

This direction has vast potential. A current pain point in the crypto market is that most trading remains confined to crypto assets themselves. If traditional stocks can also circulate on-chain, it opens up a whole new market—on-chain stock trading.

Use of Funds and Expansion Plans

HabitTrade states that the funds will be used for three main purposes:

• Accelerating the expansion of global compliant brokerage infrastructure
• Enhancing service capabilities
• Promoting integration between traditional capital markets and on-chain finance

The term “compliance” appears twice, indicating that HabitTrade regards compliance as a core competitive advantage. In the crypto finance sector, whether or not a company gains regulatory approval from various countries directly determines how far it can go.

Interpreting Market Signals

This funding reveals several important signals:

First, the crypto brokerage track is beginning to be taken seriously by institutional capital. A nearly $10 million scale is not small, showing that investors believe this direction has commercial potential.

Second, traditional capital entering the crypto space is no longer just testing waters but has clear strategic goals. As a Hong Kong-listed company, every investment Chizi City Technology makes must be accountable to shareholders, indicating a long-term strategic layout.

Third, the integration of traditional capital markets and on-chain finance is shifting from concept to reality. This is not a distant future idea but an ongoing industry practice.

Summary

While this round of funding for HabitTrade may seem like an ordinary project financing, it reflects a larger trend: participants from traditional capital markets are seriously embracing on-chain finance. The entry of a Hong Kong-listed company, the nearly $10 million scale, and clear global expansion plans all point in the same direction—crypto brokerages and on-chain financial infrastructure are becoming new tracks attracting mainstream capital.

What to watch next is whether other traditional financial institutions will follow suit and how HabitTrade’s global compliance efforts progress. These two factors will directly influence whether this track can truly break through.