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AMINA Bank, regulated in Switzerland, secured a Type 1 license upgrade from the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong.
This milestone makes AMINA the first international banking group to offer comprehensive crypto spot trading and custody services in Hong Kong.
AMINA (Hong Kong) Limited, a subsidiary of AMINA Bank AG under Swiss FINMA regulation, received approval to provide both crypto spot trading and custody solutions to professional investors in Hong Kong. This approval marks a major advance in Hong Kong’s fast-evolving digital asset regulatory framework throughout 2025.
Hong Kong’s digital asset market saw significant expansion, with a 233% year-on-year rise in early 2025. This growth was driven by institutional demand for secure, compliant custody infrastructure. The SFC’s Type 1 license permits dealing in securities, a requirement for companies offering local crypto trading.
Recent regulatory developments reinforce this momentum. In 2025, the SFC granted nine new virtual asset trading platform licenses, while the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau introduced a standalone licensing regime for virtual asset custodians. Moreover, stablecoin reserve management regulations began on August 1, 2025.
The SFC’s September 2025 policy statement introduced the 'A-S-P-I-Re' framework, which prioritizes Accessibility, Security, Professionalism, Innovation, and Resilience. The framework comprises 12 initiatives to improve security, investor protection, and responsible innovation in Hong Kong’s virtual asset industry.
According to AMINA's official announcement, the service closes a longstanding gap in institutional crypto access for professional investors and family offices. Previously, these clients had few options for comprehensive, regulated service within Hong Kong’s legal framework.
The global digital asset custody sector has grown by over 50% in the last year, reaching $683 billion by October 2025. In Hong Kong, more than 35 licensed fund managers now offer institutional-grade crypto custody and trading. Major financial groups, such as HSBC, have launched blockchain-based settlement services in 2025.
Founded in Switzerland in April 2018, AMINA received a Swiss Banking and Securities Dealer License from FINMA in August 2019. The bank has since gained licenses in Abu Dhabi’s ADGM in 2022, Hong Kong in 2023, and Austria in 2025 under the MiCAR framework.
The Hong Kong license is AMINA’s latest achievement. The bank established its Hong Kong presence in 2023 and received the pivotal Type 1 license uplift in October 2025, enabling full trading and custody. This expansion reflects strong demand for cross-border crypto banking services under robust regulation.
Looking forward, AMINA aims to expand beyond spot trading and custody in Hong Kong. Plans include private fund management, structured products, derivatives, and tokenized assets. This strategy is in line with Hong Kong’s 2026 licensing roadmap for custodians and stablecoin issuers, as the SFC expands rules for overseas liquidity access.
Hong Kong has recently announced that licensed virtual-asset trading platforms can now connect with global capital pools and overseas liquidity providers. This policy shift allows local crypto exchanges to mix domestic and international capital, marking a significant departure from the city's previously insular market structure that has limited growth despite regulatory progress.
The move aims to boost trading volumes and attract major international exchanges to Hong Kong's ecosystem of 11 authorized platforms. By enabling global order book connections, the city expects to increase market depth and narrow spreads while maintaining strict KYC, AML, and investor protection standards, positioning itself as a serious contender in the global digital asset hub race.
