Bitget has announced the halt of operations for its Hong Kong unit on December 13. This decision comes in response to “business and market related considerations,” and users are urged to withdraw their funds before the deadline.
There have been rumors that the agency could be involved in a possible deal with OSL, the first crypto exchange to be licensed in Hong Kong. OSL suspended their stock trading on Monday, according to Wu Blockchain, and a notice from the BC Technology Group to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange mentioned a “notifiable transaction which constitute inside information.”
Bitget opened its HK unit in April this year, offering access to spot trading and peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions to its clients. This move came ahead of the crypto licensing framework rolled out by Hong Kong in June.
The new requirements mandated crypto providers to seek and obtain licences from the Securities and Futures Commission before offering trading services and products to retail clients. The SFC also warned crypto companies against misleading customers about potential licensing by pointing to local arms that were yet to be registered.
Therefore, with this move, Bitget has decided to not pursue registration as a Virtual Asset Trading Platform in Hong Kong, and all operations will cease on December 13. It is essential that users withdraw their assets before this date, as failure to do so will result in the inability to access these assets once BitgetX is closed.
