Bitget to Quit Hong Kong Market, Drops VATP License Application

Bitget, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange, issued a statement on Monday (November 13) announcing that it would abandon its plan to obtain a Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) license in Hong Kong and urged users to withdraw their assets before December 13.

According to the official statement, Bitget's Hong Kong branch, BitgetX, accessible via the domain BitgetX.hk, will cease operations on December 13, 2023. After this date, the BitgetX website will be inaccessible, and customer assets will not be accessible for withdrawal.

Bitget emphasized that users will not be able to trade assets on the platform immediately as only withdrawals will be available. Additionally, as of November 13, the website has stopped accepting new users.

The crypto exchange stated: "It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that due to business and market-related considerations, we have decided not to apply for a Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) license in Hong Kong ... At the same time, Bitgetx.hk will permanently withdraw from the Hong Kong market."

In April of this year, Bitget announced the launch of BitgetX for its users in Hong Kong, a platform for spot trading and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) trading, allowing HK customers to trade and hold their virtual assets on the platform. Simultaneously, Hong Kong users of Bitget.com were also required to move to the BitgetX platform to comply with the Hong Kong VASP regime, which came into effect on June 1, 2023.

Although Hong Kong has eased regulations on cryptocurrencies, a recent surge in inappropriate activities by unlicensed virtual asset trading platforms, such as JPEX​, has raised concerns among local regulators about the regulation of the industry.