Hong Kong brokerages accelerate their transformation into encryption: Futu, Victory, and China Merchants Bank compete to lay out their plans.

In the summer of 2025, the encryption transformation of Hong Kong's financial market is showing an accelerating trend.

China Merchants International Securities has become the first Chinese-funded brokerage to obtain a virtual asset trading license; Victory Securities announced that its cryptocurrency trading volume has exceeded HKD 10 billion in the past 12 months, maintaining its leading position in the local market, and announced a three-year development strategy centered on being a "full ecosystem service provider for virtual assets"; Futu Securities' latest financial report shows that its encryption business is developing rapidly, with Crypto-related asset balances reaching HKD 4 billion.

Futu Securities, Victory Securities, and China Merchants International are just a reflection of the crypto transformation of Hong Kong brokerages.

As of August, more than 40 brokerage firms in Hong Kong have obtained licenses for virtual asset trading, with more institutions applying for licenses. The path has been paved, and the future is being written. Three institutions, three practices, together outline the roadmap for Hong Kong's transition from a traditional financial center to a new era of digital assets.

These events mark that the encryption transformation of Hong Kong brokers has moved from the exploratory stage to the full implementation phase. Three institutions, with their unique resource endowments and market positioning, provide us with typical samples to observe this transformation.

CMB International: Ecological Empowerment, Integrator of Traditional Financial Resources

As a representative of Chinese-funded banking system brokers, China Merchants International has chosen to rely on traditional financial resources to build a development path with compliance and ecological advantages, focusing on cross-border cooperation and innovation.

In August 2025, CMB International Securities collaborated with DigiFT and OnChain to tokenize a US dollar money market fund recognized in both Hong Kong and Singapore, issuing the token CMBMINT on the blockchain.

This is the world's first cross-jurisdiction tokenized public fund, and it is also the first fund by a Chinese banking group to put RWA assets on-chain. The tokenized asset is the CMB International USD Money Market Fund (CMBMINT), with 70% of the funds invested in short-term high-quality USD deposits, treasury bills, and commercial paper, among other low-volatility instruments.

The CMBMINT project adopts a dual standard architecture of Solana Token2022 and SPL, achieving a balance between compliance auditing and on-chain efficiency through the "transfer hook" mechanism. In addition to its initial launch on the Solana chain, the CMBMINT token will subsequently be deployed on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Plume Network, becoming the first currency-type fund token to support multi-chain operations.

On July 14, 2025, CMB International Securities Limited officially received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, becoming the first Chinese-funded bank-affiliated securities firm in Hong Kong to obtain a virtual asset trading service license.

The mobile application of China Merchants International Securities has added a virtual asset trading feature, providing qualified investors with 24/7 trading services. Investors can directly participate in the trading of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT) through their virtual asset accounts.

Victory Securities: RWA specialization, an innovator in bringing traditional assets on-chain.

Victory Securities, as one of the oldest comprehensive licensed brokers in Hong Kong, has chosen to focus on the tokenization of RWA (Real World Assets) in this niche field, achieving significant growth and differentiated competition.

Victory Securities announced that its cryptocurrency trading volume exceeded HKD 10 billion in the past 12 months, firmly maintaining its top position in the local market. The company will focus on six major development directions with the strategic core of being a "virtual asset full ecosystem service provider" over the next three years.

These directions include deepening global asset management solutions for immigration asset allocation using encryption, strengthening institutional-level RWA innovative applications, launching structured derivatives for virtual assets, exploring multiple new financial application scenarios for encryption, and establishing standards for newly developed products.

Since 2019, Victory Securities has proactively laid out the virtual assets sector, becoming the first financial institution in Hong Kong to be granted a full virtual asset license (Licenses 1, 4, and 9). After more than five years of technology development and risk control system construction, the company quickly launched several industry-first services after opening retail trading for virtual assets at the end of 2023.

These innovations include the first app that integrates securities and virtual asset trading, the first "VA Spot ETF Physical Delivery" service, and the world's first green energy exchange asset RWA tokenization project, effectively lowering the trading threshold for investors and helping to link real assets.

Futu Securities: A technology-driven, globally positioned aggressor

Futu Securities, as the largest internet brokerage in China, has chosen a comprehensive and aggressive global expansion strategy, leveraging its technological advantages and vast user base. By the second quarter of 2025, Futu's registered user count reached 27.12 million, with the number of "asset clients" reaching 2.88 million.

Futu's encryption business has expanded to Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. In Hong Kong, Futu has been providing Crypto trading services to local residents for a year; in Singapore, Futu Moomoo is the only licensed internet broker offering Crypto trading in the region; in the United States, Futu will launch cryptocurrency trading services in most states starting in June 2025.

Futu has a broad layout in the encryption field, including upgrading the "No. 1 license" to provide cryptocurrency trading, applying for a VATP license, participating in RWA and cryptocurrency wealth management, and laying out stablecoin business through investment in Tianxing Bank.

Especially the VATP license, once approved, means that Futu will have a compliant encryption currency exchange in Hong Kong, capable of conducting retail and institutional business.

Futu's encryption business has achieved remarkable results. As of the end of the second quarter of 2025, the balance of Futu Crypto-related assets reached approximately 4 billion HKD, with a peak daily trading volume of 40 million USD.

In terms of finance, Futu achieved a revenue of HKD 5.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of approximately 70%, with a net profit of HKD 2.6 billion, which is a year-on-year increase of 113%.

Common Anchor: Three Major Strategic Formulas and a Compliance Blueprint

In-depth analysis of three transformation samples reveals that Hong Kong brokerages have developed several common characteristics during their transition to encryption. Licensing has become a standard industry practice, with all three institutions prioritizing compliance as their primary task. Futu is simultaneously advancing its license applications in multiple global markets, showcasing the unique agility of internet brokerages; Victory Securities has obtained Hong Kong's first full license for virtual assets, reflecting the extreme pursuit of compliance by established institutions; and China Merchants International, relying on its banking background, has become the first Chinese brokerage to obtain this license. This "compliance-first" strategy reflects Hong Kong financial institutions' accurate grasp of regulatory dividends.

Technological innovation constitutes the core engine of transformation. Futu quickly builds a global trading system with its technological genes, supporting multi-market business collaboration; Victory Securities deeply cultivates RWA tokenization technology, integrating real assets with blockchain innovation; China Merchants Bank International has constructed a complex multi-chain architecture to achieve cross-chain asset flow. These technological layouts not only reflect the differentiated advantages of each company but also demonstrate a consensus on the prospects of blockchain technology.

Business collaboration has become a key pathway for value release. Futu has transformed its 27 million user base into a natural traffic pool for encryption business; Victory Securities promotes the migration of traditional brokerage clients to virtual asset services; and China Merchants Bank International leverages banking resources to develop institutional business. This collaborative development of traditional and innovative businesses not only reduces customer acquisition costs but also enhances customer stickiness, creating a virtuous cycle.

The Exam of Winds and Waves: The Coexistence of Reefs and Blue Oceans

The transformation of Hong Kong brokers into encryption is not smooth sailing, facing many challenges and risks.

Regulatory compliance risk is the main challenge. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) regulates virtual asset trading based on the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) and the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO), requiring brokers to upgrade to VASP and comply with licensing or recognition requirements under the SFO to obtain relevant licenses. Additionally, they must adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations, as well as asset "hard isolation" compliance requirements. CMB International's trading services are only available to professional investors, and ordinary investors cannot use Bitcoin as collateral to exchange for Hong Kong dollar loans. This mechanism strictly follows the investor suitability management requirements in the Virtual Asset Trading Platform Regulatory Ordinance. Meanwhile, platforms must not only have a paid-up capital of no less than HKD 5 million and a liquidity of HKD 3 million, but must also reserve sufficient liquidity assets to cover at least 12 months of operational expenses, which poses a significant challenge for the platform's own planning in Hong Kong.

Technical security risks are ever-present. Based on the lessons learned from the Terra/LUNA collapse, algorithmic stablecoins lacking backing from real assets are explicitly excluded from regulation. However, due to the demand for programmability in cryptocurrency products such as RWA and stablecoins, careful consideration of technical issues such as smart contract development, value binding, and oracle integration is still necessary during the transition to encryption. This poses a challenge for traditional brokers to expand their business and also presents an opportunity for them to seek technical partners. CMBMINT, a project under China Merchants Bank International, sought relevant technical partners years ago and invested significant resources into security audits; Futu's global system needs to address different regional technical standards; Victory Securities' RWA project must ensure consistency between on-chain and off-chain assets. These technical challenges not only pertain to financial security but also represent a significant test of institutional reputation.

The risk of market volatility requires a new risk control system. The high volatility of virtual assets far exceeds that of traditional financial products, and all three institutions need to establish specialized risk measurement and management models. At the same time, the shortage of talent has become a common problem in the industry, as there is a high demand for multidisciplinary talent who understands both traditional finance and blockchain, and the transformation of organizational structure and culture also requires time to settle. In addition, the current guidelines still prohibit platforms from issuing or trading futures and related derivatives for virtual assets. This reflects the cautious attitude of regulatory agencies when facing complex and high-risk products, prioritizing market stability. The Securities Regulatory Commission has stated that it will review the situation in the future and consider the possibility of opening such products to institutional investors. For brokerage firms, this blocks a business route. Therefore, how to ensure that their ships can navigate through this period of transformation while the market remains turbulent is a risk that brokers should consider.

It is worth noting that these challenges also give rise to new opportunities. Regulatory compliance requirements have spurred the development of compliance technology, security risks in technology have driven the demand for blockchain security services, and market volatility risks have promoted innovation in derivatives and hedging tools. The practices of the three institutions indicate that successful transformation requires finding a dynamic balance between risks and opportunities, turning challenges into differentiated competitive advantages.

Future Outlook: A New Financial Ecosystem of Integration and Innovation

The encryption transformation of Hong Kong brokerages is building a brand new digital financial ecosystem.

The integration of technologies will become a future development trend. CMBMINT project of CMB International adopts a multi-chain deployment architecture, demonstrating the possibility of integration of different blockchain technologies. Futu Securities plans to launch deposit and withdrawal functions in Singapore and the United States in the second half of the year, further expanding technological boundaries.

Business innovation will continue to emerge. The executives of Futu Securities stated in the earnings call: "In addition to spot trading, there may be more monetization opportunities in the future, such as staking and derivative businesses." The collaboration between Victory Securities and Caocao Chuxing has created the application scenario of "ride-hailing assets + RWA."

The regulatory framework will continue to improve. With the official implementation of the stablecoin policy in Hong Kong in August 2025, stablecoin business will also become an important part of the brokerage's encryption transformation. This will provide brokerages with more business opportunities and innovation space.

The future is bright and promising.

The process of the Hong Kong brokerage firms' transformation to encryption shows that the integration of traditional finance and digital assets is irreversible. The practices of Futu, Victory, and China Merchants International demonstrate that successful transformation requires leveraging one's own advantages, choosing suitable development paths, and placing a strong emphasis on compliance and risk management.

As more brokerages join this trend, Hong Kong is gradually building a new ecosystem that integrates traditional finance with digital innovation. This transformation will not only reshape the landscape of Hong Kong's financial industry but also provide important references for the digital development of global financial markets. In the future, the balance between technological innovation and compliance management, as well as the deep integration of virtual assets and the real economy, will continue to drive Hong Kong's international financial center towards the digital age.