Futu, one of the leading trading brokerages in China, revealed its plans to offer cryptocurrency trading later this year.
In its earnings call earlier this Wednesday, senior vice president Robin Li Xu told analysts that Futu would be applying for digital-currency related licenses in the United States, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Despite these changes, crypto trading will not be available for users based in mainland China. This appears to be in line with recent developments, as the Chinese government continues to crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading.
Earlier this week, the Chinese government released a joint notice from banking and internet industry associations on its official WeChat account, warning its local financial industry to not offer crypto services. “What we know for sure is that we will not offer digital currency trading services to mainland China users,” Xu said.
Could Cryptos Continue to Fuel Futu’s Exponential Growth?
Despite regulatory hurdles in China, Futu’s expansion into international markets has continued to fuel its exponential earnings growth. According to its earnings call, the Tencent-backed broker added 270,000 net paying clients, with more than 70% coming from outside of China — primarily from Hong Kong, Singapore, and the U.S.
Futu’s total revenues increased by over 350% to $283.6 million — marking a fifth straight quarter of over 100% growth. Its global user base also rose to 14 million, with trading volumes reaching an impressive $289 billion.
As cryptocurrencies continue to gain the attention of mainstream investors, trading volumes of major tokens have surged to record highs.
With the recent market volatility, Bitcoin alone saw a daily trading volume of $15 billion, roughly equating to $105 billion exchanged on a weekly basis. It’s important to note that the figure only includes data from spot market exchanges, not futures and derivative-based exchanges.
The cryptocurrency scene in Southeast Asia remains relatively untapped, which may be the perfect opportunity for Futu’s growing ambitions to expand internationally.
Featured image from UnSplash
