Why CryptoCompare

This comparison website has been built to educate you about the best way to get started with buying crypto currency in Hong Kong. The world of crypto currency is very volatile and there are many pitfalls. Bying Bitcoin and Crypto Currency comes with risk. Our goal, is to educate you so you are aware of risk that comes with picking the right exchange.

Picking the right exchange is important? Absolutely, the industry is still relatively young, exchanges make mistakes and don’t always succeed. Some examples from Hong Kong are JPEX and (internationally) FTX. Exchanges can end up in difficult situations due to a combination of challenges such as inexperience, cybersecurity threats, or plain bad behavior. Either way, the SFC has stepped in, and regulations are being applied.

As a result, some of the most popular international exchanges have restrictions when it comes to the Hong Kong market. In order to balance personal risk and ease of use, this page has been created to educate you on how to safely navigate the crypto environment from a Hong Kong retail perspective.

Types of exchanges

From a Hong Kong perspective, we can actually divide the market into four categories. Each and everyone of them has a unique proposition and understanding how they operate will help you to safely navigate the Crypto world.

International Crypto Exchanges

In Hong Kong, a lot of the big international exchanges have restrictions. Either their registration is completely blocked by either IP or when you register with your Passport / Government Issues ID, or their features such as leverages trading are blocked.

However, a lot of the International Exchanges have licences overseas, and are trusted by a lot of users in other jurisdictions. In general, these International Exchanges have the best product offerings, and have the best fees.

Local SFC Licences Crypto Exchanges

The second group are SFC Licences Exchanges. Right now that’s only Hashkey and OSL. However, both are relatively new players and do not have full exchanges features as you would expect. For OSL, the fees are high and the offering is slim. For Hashkey, the trading volume just isn’t there and they charge you a small fee for holding your crypto on their exchange. However, both could be considered as good HKD on-ramp as they do support wire transfers.

OTC Desks

OTC stands for Over The Counter. These are physical desks which are obviously not meant to be considered in case you are trading on a daily basis. However, they are great ways to on-ramps into Crypto. You go there with HKD, and purchase Crypto or USD Stable Coins for a very competitive rate. Once you then have you Crypto of USD Stable Coin, then you just write it to your own Software, Hardware or Exchange Wallet. Due to the physical nature of OTC Desks, they have no score in the Cyber Security section in our above comparison table.

Traditional Brokerage Platform

Interactive Brokers is a Traditional Brokerage Platform. You can buy the Bitcoin ETF's here. At Interactive Brokers you will have access to both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) – where you can buy HK-listed ETFs and U.S. Markets (such as NYSE and NASDAQ) – where you can purchase U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs. For more information, please check our ETF Guide

CryptoCompare's recommendation would be to either store it on your own Hardware Wallet, or wire it to an Exchange Wallet to further engage with the world of Crypto Currency.