On November 18, 2025, AMINA (Hong Kong) Limited, a subsidiary of Swiss-regulated AMINA Bank AG, obtained an uplift to its SFC Type 1 license, becoming the first international banking group to offer cryptocurrency spot trading and custody services to professional investors in Hong Kong, per Marketbit.io. This approval, building on its initial Type 1 (Dealing in Securities), Type 4 (Advising on Securities), and Type 9 (Asset Management) licenses granted in November 2023, enables 24/7 crypto trading for assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USDC, per. Michael Benz, AMINA’s APAC CEO, emphasized the upgrade as a “milestone for institutional digital asset adoption in Asia,”
The license targets high-net-worth individuals, institutions, and corporates, addressing a gap in Hong Kong’s crypto market where professional investors lacked local, regulated access, per. AMINA HK now supports 13 crypto assets, providing institutional-grade custody with advanced encryption and multi-party computation (MPC), ensuring compliance under Hong Kong’s digital asset regulatory framework, per. This move aligns with Hong Kong’s Digital Asset Policy 2.0, aiming to attract institutional inflows, with AMINA’s Hong Kong revenue up 69% year-over-year, per. X posts from @Crypto_Insights note the license’s role in bridging traditional finance and crypto.
The approval boosts market liquidity and investor confidence, potentially accelerating Hong Kong’s position as a crypto hub, per. It could influence other banks to seek similar licenses, driving $10B+ in institutional crypto flows by 2026, per. BTC ($91,954, down 3.24% daily) and ETH ($4,070, down 5%) reflect broader market volatility, but regulated services like AMINA’s may stabilize sentiment, per CoinMarketCap. Risks include regulatory scrutiny under frameworks like MiCA in the EU, where AMINA’s Austrian subsidiary secured a CASP license in October 2025, per. Investors should monitor SFC updates at sfc.hk for compliance standards.
With AMINA’s expansion, institutions can now stake and trade crypto compliantly, reducing risks in DeFi. Track USDC flows on CryptoQuant and SFC filings. Dollar-cost average into BTC or ETH with stop-losses below $90,000 and $4,000, or diversify into USDC for stability, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for Asia-Pacific crypto news. AMINA’s license could spur $50B in regional institutional adoption by 2027, but geopolitical tensions may challenge growth.
