Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Wenser (@wenser2010)

Last night, Futu Niu Niu officially launched real-time BNB trading services for compliant professional investors in Hong Kong.

This makes Futu the first licensed broker in Hong Kong to provide BNB order book trading pairs, and the platform's tradable cryptocurrencies have expanded to include 21 mainstream coins such as BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDT. Futu officials stated that the newly added BNB trading in Hong Kong relies on its self-built virtual asset platform PantherTrade, compliant with the standards of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and seamlessly integrated with Futu's trading system, thus achieving a complete closed loop from upstream compliance to downstream instant trading.

After facing a collective lawsuit in the U.S., undergoing partial business suspension in Japan, and expelling mainland Chinese clients, Futu, as a long-established brokerage platform, started seeking breakthroughs in the cryptocurrency trading field.

Futu's Embarrassing Period: Regulatory Hits in China, Japan, and the U.S., Limited New User Channels

The launch of BNB trading for compliant investors in Hong Kong may be among the few "incremental opportunities" for Futu at this moment.

In the past 3 months, Futu has faced regulatory pressure from mainland Chinese authorities, the U.S. SEC, and Japan's Financial Services Agency regarding issues related to cross-border illegal operations, insider trading, and misleading statements.

Mainland China's Regulatory Crackdown: Fines of 1.85 billion yuan, eliminating existing cross-border investors in 2 years

In May this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, in conjunction with the central bank, the Ministry of Public Security, and six other departments, officially released the "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Governance of Illegal Cross-Border Securities, Futures, and Fund Operations" (hereinafter referred to as "the Plan"), launching a comprehensive rectification of illegal cross-border brokers. On the same day, the Commission announced that investigations had been launched against three leading cross-border internet brokers, including Futu, Tiger Brokers, and Changqiao, proposing the confiscation of all illegal profits and severe penalties. Futu is facing a proposed fine of 1.85 billion yuan, while Tiger Brokers is expected to have over 410 million yuan confiscated, with the founders of both companies each facing personal fines of about 1.25 million yuan.

Additionally, according to the requirements of the "Plan," all institutions engaged in illegal cross-border operations must maintain a one-way channel for existing investors during the two-year rectification period—only allowing them to sell and transfer out funds, prohibiting any buy, increasing positions, or fund inflow operations.

U.S. Regulatory Investigation: Insider trading investigation initiated, market makers losing over $70 million

Due to previous fines and expulsion requirements from Chinese regulatory authorities, Futu's stock price experienced a single-day drop of over 40%, with suspected insider traders profiting $100 million by betting on options after receiving advance notice of the news.

As the main counterparty involved in the suspected insider trading, the market maker SIG (Haina Group) lost over $70 million, prompting them to file a lawsuit in the Federal Court in Manhattan, New York on June 29, where a U.S. judge approved their request to freeze the relevant account funds that day.

Furthermore, investor Yong Hong Tang filed a lawsuit against Futu Holdings' founder Lee Hua and CFO Chen Yu in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 26, accusing them of violating the securities fraud and controlling person liability provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, with claims covering investors who purchased Futu shares from May 24, 2023, to May 27, 2026.

Recently, all three defendants in Futu's insider trading case have been identified, including Hong Kong resident Yang Jingyao (suspected to be the largest single shareholder of the Hong Kong listed company Rongzun International).

Japan's Regulatory Order: Some of Futu's operations suspended, new account openings paused for 3 months

On June 19, Japan's Financial Services Agency issued a partial business suspension order to moomoo Securities (Futu Holdings' Japanese subsidiary), requiring it to suspend solicitation and acceptance of new account openings from June 19 to September 18 for a period of 3 months; a rectification plan was to be developed.

It was disclosed that moomoo Securities engaged in improper behavior by providing false explanations to clients regarding the applicability of Japan's personal savings account system (NISA), and there were long-term deficiencies in suspicious transaction checks and reporting, as well as insufficient cybersecurity measures.

Traditional Brokers Seeking New Breakthroughs: Approval for Virtual Asset Trading Financing Services in Hong Kong, New Instant Cryptocurrency Trading

Traditional brokerage businesses have frequently faced regulatory crackdowns, leading to ventures into the cryptocurrency sector.

In July 2024, Futu Securities received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to provide virtual asset trading services to qualified investors, including individual investors, officially launching BTC and ETH trading on August 1, becoming the first licensed broker in Hong Kong to trade cryptocurrencies with zero commission;

In August 2025, according to the official Q2 financial report, Futu's cryptocurrency asset balance reached 4 billion Hong Kong dollars, with business expansion to Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States;

In November 2025, Futu's international platform Moomoo launched BNB in the U.S. and Singapore markets.

As 2026 approached, while cryptocurrency exchanges were launching traditional financial assets such as U.S. stocks, Korean stocks, and Hong Kong stocks, traditional brokers were also moving towards cryptocurrency trading.

June: Approved to Launch Virtual Asset Trading Financing Services in Hong Kong

In June this year, Futu Securities announced that it had received approval from the Hong Kong SFC for securities trading service upgrade license No. 1, and will launch virtual asset trading financing services to qualified clients in Hong Kong. This service requires collateral to be traditional securities, and previous credit obtained through traditional securities financing cannot be used for cryptocurrency trading, but has now been relaxed to allow for cryptocurrency trading.

This time, Futu's launch of instant BNB trading in Hong Kong has two main differentiating selling points:

First, in terms of customer base, Futu Hong Kong caters to a broader retail group, with a relatively low entry threshold;

Second, in terms of the trading system, Futu adopts order book matching instead of purely quoting transactions, allowing for more flexible buying and selling methods.

Additionally, regarding many readers' potential concerns about "whether Futu Hong Kong supports BNB deposits and withdrawals," current information indicates that it does not support this for now, but may gradually open up in the future, similar to previously established cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, and SOL.

According to Futu's Q1 earnings briefing, its total trading volume in the Hong Kong brokerage business reached 41.5 trillion Hong Kong dollars in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 29% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 4%, with a trading volume of 30 trillion Hong Kong dollars in U.S. stocks. By the end of the first quarter, the company's asset management scale reached 17.84 trillion Hong Kong dollars, a year-on-year increase of 28%.

Company executives stated that for local Hong Kong customers, the company has maintained a market share of over 50%. In overseas markets, the independent brand moomoo has recorded significant year-on-year revenue growth in five countries, including Japan, Canada, Australia, the United States, and Malaysia, with income growth exceeding 100%. There are over 2 million asset clients, with an average AUM of about $18,000.

Considering the previously disclosed news that the proportion of asset clients in mainland China has dropped to 13%, the importance of Hong Kong's cryptocurrency trading business is expected to increase gradually, and this move is also seen as a favorable attempt for traditional brokers to transform and seize the license dividends in Hong Kong and attract younger user groups.

Perhaps, after experiencing regulatory heavy hits, Futu aims to become a multifaceted trading platform. Compared to its original business structure, which heavily relied on mainland users for cross-border investment, a Robinhood-style "dual approach of cryptocurrency and securities" model is clearly more advantageous.

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