‍#香港证监会发布新监管框架

What does it mean for Hong Kong tokenized products to be tradable around the clock, with the removal of secondary market trading restrictions?

On April 20th, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission announced a new regulatory framework, allowing Hong Kong tokenized products to be traded 24/7. Permitting tokenized investment products approved by the SFC to be bought and sold on licensed virtual asset trading platforms in the secondary market, with the first batch expected to be tokenized money market funds. What does this imply? Let’s analyze from three perspectives.

Regulatory Framework Upgrade: From Primary Issuance to Secondary Circulation

Since the Hong Kong SFC first outlined a regulatory framework for tokenization at the end of 2023, product issuers have been actively promoting tokenization. Moving forward, Hong Kong tokenized products will be tradable around the clock. By the end of March 2026, Hong Kong has already launched 13 tokenized products for public sale, with the total managed assets of tokenized shares reaching HKD 10.7 billion. Over the past year, this has increased approximately sevenfold.

Seven times. Not a slow climb, but a steep leap. According to data from the Hong Kong Financial Development Council, the market capitalization of tokenized funds skyrocketed from about $2 billion in 2024 to over $8 billion in 2025. The market is moving too fast; if regulation remains at the issuance stage, it’s like putting bicycles on a rocket.

Yeh Chi-hang, Executive Director of the Intermediaries Division of the Hong Kong SFC, bluntly stated: “We must shift from focusing locally to leveraging global influence to attract global liquidity.” We believe this statement hits the core: liquidity is the lifeblood of all financial products. For tokenized products to prove they are not just on-chain decorations, the secondary market is an essential pathway.

Around-the-Clock Trading: A Liquidity Revolution Breaking Space-Time Constraints

Hong Kong tokenized products will be tradable 24/7. The core value of removing secondary market trading restrictions lies in breaking the traditional financial limitations of space and time. With the new framework in place, night trading and weekend trading become a reality. The comparison is clear:

The new measures encompass four pillars: fair pricing, orderly trading, liquidity provision, and information disclosure, referencing current operations applicable to ETFs and licensed virtual asset trading platforms.

The Invisible Backbone of 24/7 Trading: Three Layers of Digital Currency Infrastructure

Hong Kong tokenized products being tradable around the clock might sound like a policy document, but behind it is a comprehensive set of digital infrastructure support:

Licensed Stablecoins: Since March, a mandatory licensing regime has been implemented, requiring 100% reserves backing and a minimum capital of HKD 25 million. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has issued its first two stablecoin licenses in April.

Tokenized Deposits: EnsembleX launched in November 2025, involving HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China Hong Kong. HSBC has completed its first cross-bank real-time transfer for Ant International, amounting to HKD 3.8 million.

Wholesale CBDC: The EnsembleTX platform promotes interbank settlement of tokenized deposits, aiming to upgrade to 24/7 operation.

These three layers of infrastructure form a logical system: during the day, settle with tokenized deposits; at night, relay with regulated stablecoins; and the gears of around-the-clock liquidity are thus engaged. This is the first time globally that the words “compliance,” “around-the-clock,” and “tokenization” have been simultaneously included in a regulatory document.

The transformation allowing Hong Kong tokenized products to trade 24/7 essentially establishes a parallel liquidity ecosystem to traditional finance through compliant tokenization strategies within Web3.

A noteworthy detail is that Hong Kong began building its virtual asset regulatory framework as early as 2019, taking nearly seven years to reach this point. This is not a regulatory surprise but a carefully planned institutional evolution. A white paper jointly released by BCG and Aptos Labs predicts that if Hong Kong transitions from traditional infrastructure to a tokenized financial system, the scale of its fund industry could double. We believe that opening the secondary market is precisely the starting line for this doubling.