Table of Contents:

· PantherTrade director previously served as executive at JD.com, Huobi, and other companies

· PantherTrade backed by Tencent-owned Futu Securities

· Two years ago, Futu Securities CEO announced offering Bitcoin services

· Tiger Brokers also sets sights on the cryptocurrency industry

On November 17th, the list of applicants for virtual asset trading platform licenses from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission showed that a total of 6 companies are currently applying for virtual asset trading platform licenses. The latest application was submitted by PantherTrade (Hong Kong) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of FUTU (NASDAQ) Holdings, also known as 猎豹交易（香港）有限公司 in Chinese.

Source: Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong

PantherTrade's director previously served as a senior executive at companies such as JD.com and Huobi

In fact, PantherTrade had already queued up to apply for a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in Hong Kong in October, according to The Block Beats. But what is more noteworthy is the executives behind PantherTrade.

More information shows that PantherTrade has appointed Chen Zhihu as a director on September 14th. He previously served as the investment director of Huobi Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited.

Another director of PantherTrade is Hong Yimin. It is reported that PantherTrade submitted the formation form of the consortium on March 7th this year. The first director was Fang Xingzhi. The information shows that he served as JD Securities Co., Ltd. from September 2019 to July 2020.

PantherTrade Behind the Scenes: Tencent-backed Futu Securities

Aside from executives, Futu Securities, the company behind PantherTrade, has also caught the attention of the cryptocurrency industry. It is reported that the subsidiary of Futu Holdings, which submitted the application, is Leopard Trading (Hong Kong) Limited. According to information from Qichacha, Futu Securities' main business is "providing stock account opening and stock trading services for stock trading users in Hong Kong, US and A-shares."

According to Futu Securities' latest annual report, as of the end of 2022, the registered users of Futu Securities' one-stop digital financial service platform, Futu NiuNiu, and the moomoo app, which were independently developed, reached 19.58 million; the number of account-opening customers reached 3.23 million, and the total number of asset customers reached 1.487 million, firmly occupying the leading position in the industry. Tiger Securities (TIGR, NASDAQ), which is also a stock trading platform, has not yet reached the same level as Futu Securities. As of the end of 2022, Tiger International's global account-opening customers exceeded 2 million; the number of deposit customers was 782,000.

Source: The Beijing News

In addition, according to information from Qichacha, Tencent (Tecent Mobility Limited) holds 0.44% of the equity structure of Futu Securities. According to a previous report by Sina Finance, Tencent once held 30.3% of Futu's shares in 2020.

Two years ago, Futu Securities CEO announced the provision of Bitcoin services

In fact, as early as 2021, Futu Securities had already begun to expand its layout in the cryptocurrency industry. In April 2021, a user in the Futu NiuNiu platform asked Futu Securities CEO Li Hua about the possibility of trading Bitcoin on the platform in the future. Li Hua replied, "Hong Kong and overseas customers have a good chance, but mainland customers probably cannot."

But after June, BlockBeats and Futu Securities and Tiger Securities customer service confirmed after communication that the latest version of their App has suspended the provision of CME BTC market and trading functions. Later in September of that year, according to the Futu Bull App, it was shown that, in response to regulatory requirements from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, trading of stocks such as GBTC and EHTE will be prohibited for new positions starting from October 1, 2021.

Tiger Securities also sets its sights on the cryptocurrency industry

Other than Futu, Tiger Securities mentioned earlier has also set its sights on the cryptocurrency industry.

April 25th, according to Sing Tao Daily, Tiger Securities (Hong Kong), a subsidiary of Tiger International, announced the launch of cash management services. The company also disclosed its intention to apply for a virtual asset trading platform license in Hong Kong and is currently in discussions with relevant companies.

On October 17th, according to Nikkei Asia, two cryptocurrency platforms, Yax and PantherTrade, are queuing up to apply for a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in Hong Kong, allowing them to operate cryptocurrency trading platforms for retail investors.

Yax, on the other hand, is a platform incubated by former employees of Tiger Securities, which has received support from smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. Insiders also added that Tiger may provide cryptocurrency services to its clients through its Hong Kong brokerage business.

It is reported that PantherTrade and Yax are currently undergoing third-party evaluations, which is a necessary procedure before the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission can accept their applications.

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