Hong Kong Prepares for Retail Access to Spot Crypto ETFs + More News

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of crypto and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s news.

In this edition:

• Hong Kong Prepares for Retail Access to Spot Crypto ETFs
• Southeast Asia Scammers Are Forced to Look for New Markets – And They’re Finding Them
• Bybit Unveils P2P Crypto Trading with Zero Transaction Fees

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Hong Kong Prepares for Retail Access to Spot Crypto ETFs

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is prepared to authorize funds with direct exposure to digital assets, including spot virtual asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to the South China Morning Post.

The report cited a circular jointly issued by the securities regulator and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s central bank.

Neil Tan, managing partner at local fintech consulting firm Tsunami Advisors and chairman of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong, commented that “this move puts Hong Kong in a leading position in the global crypto landscape.”

“By introducing a regulated and accessible investment vehicle like a spot bitcoin ETF, Hong Kong can attract both institutional and retail investors seeking exposure to cryptocurrencies.”

Tan argued that spot crypto ETFs are “essentially a Web3 asset in a Web2 wrapper.” They allow traditional investors to gain access and exposure to the crypto market.

Last October, Hong Kong announced its goal to become a global virtual asset hub. Since then, the authorities have implemented a new regulatory regime for centralized exchanges, allowing licensed platforms to accept retail investors.

Only two companies have received licenses, and nine are awaiting application approvals.

Southeast Asia Scammers Are Forced to Look for New Markets – And They’re Finding Them

Rebecca Miller, human trafficking program coordinator for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime regional office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, commented that the growing awareness of the scam centers in Southeast Asia has forced the crime syndicates to search for victims elsewhere, targeting countries and regions where most people may not yet know about them, according to VOA.

This includes crypto scammers as well, among a variety of others.

Troy Gochenour, a US resident who fell victim to a crypto scam run out of Southeast Asia, says the syndicates are successful in finding new markets. Gochenour now investigates such scams for the Global Anti-Scam Organization, a group founded in Singapore and based in the US.

“I have talked to victims in South America, the Middle East, all over Europe, Australia,” he said, and added:

“No victims in Antarctica yet, but give it time.”

Gochenour claims that these scam syndicates are “truly global.” “When you’ve got 100,000 or so people all over Southeast Asia [each] sending out 1,000 or so random messages a day, they’re going to hit a lot of people.”

But Southeast Asia’s online scam hubs are increasingly drawing attention from governments and law enforcement agencies globally as the scammers expand their operations to other regions.

Jason Tower, Myanmar country director for the United States Institute of Peace, a US government-funded think tank, said most countries have been slow to respond to the growing threat. He said, however, that countries are likely to come out with their own sanctions.

Gochenour said he is skeptical that targeted sanctions like the British actions will be very successful. “It’s really going to boil down to […] more law enforcement being trained how to deal with it and how to trace cryptocurrencies and freeze them and to seize them. That is the best thing that can happen [for] a [scam] victim.”

He noted Tether’s announcement that it was onboarding the US Secret Service and FBI as a positive development, stating he hopes others follow suit.

Bybit Unveils P2P Crypto Trading with Zero Transaction Fees

The Bybit crypto exchange rolled out a zero-fee structure for its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform.

Per the press release, this policy “eradicates fees for both buyers and sellers, unlocking greater savings and maximizing profits for traders globally.”

Bybit’s zero-fee approach applies to all fiat trading pairs on the P2P platform, it said.