Hong Kong’s ZA Bank becomes the first bank in Asia to offer crypto trading services

• The eligibility criteria for trading Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) is only that one has to be a customer of ZA bank.
• The citizens of Hong Kong need to open an investment account and then complete risk management and other processes before trading Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). 
•  In the current scenario, the Securities Regulatory Commission of China has introduced four currencies for retail investors to trade.

Hong Kong is moving forward swiftly in the crypto world and the new developments made by the country is a proof of it. The ZhongAn (ZA) Bank of Hong Kong has now allowed trading of two leading cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum in Hong Kong as well as US dollars on its banking application. 

Ming Pao, a Chinese-language newspaper from Hong Kong reports that ZA has publicized that it is now the first bank in Asia to offer crypto trading services to retail users. The alternate Chief Executive Officer of ZA Bank, Calvin Ng is optimistic about the announcement and believes that this offer can place the bank parallel to the traditional banks, offering a more competitive service and compelling fee income growth. 

What are the eligibility criteria for trading? 

The eligibility criteria for trading Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) is only that one has to be a customer of

ZA bank. The citizens of Hong Kong need to open an investment account and then complete risk management and other processes before trading Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). 

The entry fee is set at 600 Hong Kong dollars and 70 US dollars and the commission paid for each transaction will be US$1.99 and HK$15, which is also the minimum fee for every transaction. 1.5% of the transaction amount will be charged as a platform fee.  

The bank will probably remove the commission charge by the end of June 2025, and the platform fee will be cut down from 1.5% to 0.8% of the transaction amount. The alternate CEO of the bank said that the country only offered retail investors digital currency trading services in 2023 and the bank has been doing preparations for the service for nearly a year. 

Along with the compliance standards, trading will be a 24-hour transaction for stable and guaranteed service. As the change comes with high-risk levels of assets, the marketing promotion will also include focusing on customer education. 

Other crypto will be added in the future   

In order to serve the Web3 ecosystem, ZA bank is also focusing on building technologies like blockchain. In the current scenario, the Securities Regulatory Commission of China has introduced four currencies for retail investors to trade. 

The CEO further went on to state that he has been in regular touch with the regulatory authorities for introducing Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions as a priority, and will then add other prevailing crypto in the future. 

He also highlighted that after positioning its digital currency trading business, the bank is hoping to boost fee income and onboard new customers, which will play a significant role in converting losses into profits.