Hong Kong lawmakers push for tighter oversight of cryptocurrencies, trading platforms

Lawmakers and brokers called on the Hong Kong government and regulators to tighten curbs on bitcoin, after China banned the cryptocurrency and as US and German authorities also tightened their respective regulatory oversight. 

“Bitcoin and many digital currencies are not regulated,” said Christopher Cheung Wah-fung, a Hong Kong legislator for the financial services sector. “They are not regulated by the government nor any regulators, but many people are trading them. This is somewhat worrying.”

Cheung said mainland Chinese authorities have cracked down while many other countries have also tightened regulations. He called on the Hong Kong government to follow the international trend.

“The Hong Kong government and regulators should introduce more measures to protect the interests of shareholders. They should also introduce more investor education over the risks of these digital currencies,” Cheung said.

Bitcoin prices plunged below US$6,000 on Wednesday after US regulators said they were considering tightening rules to regulate trading. The currency has dropped substantially since touching a peak at US$20,000 in December.

The US move came after mainland China earlier this week tightened its ban on all cryptocurrency trading platforms.