Hong Kong virtual bank ZA Bank to add cryptocurrency support

The largest virtual bank in Hong Kong, ZA Bank, will act as an intermediary for deposits and withdrawals from cryptocurrency trading platforms. Bloomberg reports, citing the bank’s head Ronald Yu.

Users of licensed digital asset exchanges in Hong Kong will be able to top up accounts in fiat currencies and withdraw Chinese yuan, Hong Kong dollars, and U.S. dollars.

According to ZA Bank’s CEO, the company does not offer services to clients in China given the restrictions there. At the same time, the bank provides online accounts to local Web3 startups and small companies from the regulatory sandbox, which now numbers about 100 firms.

Ronald Yu says that ZA Bank, launched in March 2020, has already tested the business model with Hong Kong–licensed digital asset exchanges HashKey and OSL.

In October 2022, the local Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau published a statement about the relaxation of cryptocurrency restrictions and readiness to engage with virtual asset service providers.

In January 2023, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the readiness of the jurisdiction to accept cryptocurrency companies from all around the world. The official noted that authorities had recently completed work on the licensing regime for the industry.

In February, Chan said that Hong Kong would allocate $6.4 million in the annual budget to accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem. The funds would also support the G-Rocket accelerator, which started operating earlier this year.