Hong Kong-based financial technology group Futu Holdings has announced that its subsidiary PantherTrade is looking to obtain a crypto trading license from the region’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
The announcement comes soon after the firm announced a $150 million Series D funding round in December last year, which was led by venture capital firms such as Tiger Global and DST Global.
Futu Holdings is the parent company of the digital platform Futu, which provides brokerage services for global stocks, digital assets, and options.
PantherTrade intends to use the acquired license to assist customers in the cryptocurrency and digital asset markets by providing trading and custody services in line with Hong Kong’s regulations. The firm is also looking to build a digital assets ecosystem in the region that, according to its announcement, will make digital assets “easier to use, safer, and more accessible.”
This also marks the firm’s ambitions to expand beyond the stock and options trading business which it currently offers. The press release states that the team now seeks to move beyond their core business, into the fields of blockchain security, technical infrastructure, payment systems, and product research and development.
The press release concluded by saying that the firm is confident that “with its track record, team, technology and partner network, PantherTrade will become a leader in the digital asset trading platform space in Hong Kong and globally”.
