Hong Kong ZA Bank to Offer Crypto Conversions and Accounts

Hong Kong’s largest virtual bank, ZA Bank, will reportedly provide crypto-to-fiat conversions and account services to regulated Web3 companies in the city.

ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s largest virtual bank by assets, announced its plan to become the go-to bank for the Web3 ecosystem and will soon provide essential banking services to such firms.

Amid the collapse of crypto-friendly banks and exchanges in the United States struggling to secure banking services, ZA Bank will now serve as the settlement bank for regulated Web3 companies in Hong Kong, Bloomberg and Tech Crunch report. ZA Banks adds to the city’s burgeoning digital asset sector.

Ronald Iu, the bank’s chief executive officer, said Chinese billionaire Ou Yaping founded ZA Bank and will offer token-to-fiat currency conversions over licensed exchanges.

He added that ZA would serve as a settlement bank for clients to allow withdrawals in Hong Kong, China, and US currencies after they deposit crypto tokens with exchanges.

ZA Bank already offers this new service with HashKey and OSL, the only two licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong. Iu said ZA Bank would also provide the same benefits for other exchanges once they become licensed. Iu added:

For the dozen of interested firms, big or small, from abroad and local, top of their concern is to have a path to make things work.

In October, the city announced its intention to become the next global hub for digital asset firms and has been developing a regulatory framework to govern the sector. Thus far, Hong Kong has successfully attracted crypto-related firms to its shores as over 80 crypto firms from Mainland China expressed their desire to set up offices in the city.

The endeavour has even seen backing, albeit subtle, from Beijing.

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