PANews reported on January 22 that according to Zhitong Finance, recently, Ye Zhiheng, Executive Director of the Intermediary Department of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (Chairman of the Fintech Advisory Group), revealed that new licenses for virtual asset platforms will be issued soon, and he believes that there will be good news in the first quarter. He continued that last year, almost all applicants were inspected on site, and the regulators had the opportunity to express their requirements and the platforms also had time to respond. The industry believes that direct communication can speed up the approval process.

Ye Zhiheng said that there is no guarantee that all the 11 applications will be approved because they have to stick to regulatory red lines, including investor protection and operator network security requirements, but he hopes that given a month or two, there will be good news.

Previously, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission had announced that it would set up an advisory group for all licensed platforms in early 2025 to ensure that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission considers the industry's views in the process of formulating policies. Ye Zhiheng said that he had invited senior executives of licensed platforms to participate, and hoped that each licensed platform would send representatives to participate. The first meeting is expected to be held after the Chinese New Year and in the first quarter.