China Merchants Bank (CMB) Launches 24/7 Crypto Trading in Hong Kong—Banking Giant Joins the Digital Gold Rush

Hong Kong's finance scene just got a crypto adrenaline shot. China Merchants Bank (CMB)—one of mainland China's biggest financial players—has flipped the switch on round-the-clock digital asset trading in the city.

No more banker's hours for crypto

The move shatters the traditional 9-to-5 constraints of legacy finance, putting CMB head-to-head with crypto-native exchanges. Their platform offers institutional clients seamless access to major tokens—because apparently even blue-chip banks now need to HODL.

Regulatory chess continues

While Beijing keeps mainland China's crypto ban firmly in place, Hong Kong's progressive virtual asset framework keeps attracting big players. CMB's launch follows a string of Wall Street giants dipping toes into Hong Kong's crypto pool—all while carefully sidestepping the 'speculative asset' rhetoric favored by their compliance teams.

Another brick in Hong Kong's crypto wall

The city's positioning itself as Asia's digital asset hub, and having state-backed institutions like CMB onboard lends crucial legitimacy. Because nothing says 'serious financial innovation' like a 150-year-old bank chasing the same volatility that keeps hedge fund managers up at night.

CMB dips into crypto trading

According to a WeChat announcement from Monday, the bank now offers VIRTUAL asset trading services, a step that comes after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) approved the bank’s application for a virtual asset service provider license in mid-July.

CMB’s Hong Kong-based crypto exchange allows for 24/7 trading of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether. However, according to documentation provided by the bank, only professional investors will be able to access the crypto trading services.

China Merchants Bank is one of the country’s largest banks, with over $1.7 trillion worth of assets under its management as of the end of March, according to Macrotrends data. The bank’s ordinary class A shares have a market capitalization of $153.16 billion.

The move lends credence to Hong Kong’s campaign to establish itself as a global digital asset hub, even though crypto trading has been banned since 2017 in mainland China.

CMB International and Solana announced a collaboration

CMB International also has plans to explore tokenized assets and has already started the process with the announcement of the CMBMINT money market fund on Solana.

According to a post from the official solana account on X, CMB International has made its HK-Singapore Mutual Recognition Fund tokenizable on Solana.

The rollout came via a partnership with DigiFT, a Singapore-licensed real-world asset (RWA) exchange, and OnChain, an RWA service provider on Solana. The alliance highlights increasing institutional confidence in blockchain finance as TradFi and crypto continue to intersect.

The fund exists on the basis of the HK-Singapore Mutual Recognition of Funds and is a direct result of a scheme the CSRC and SFC began in 2015. It has facilitated interstate investment in funds to the tune of more than $20 billion and is an indication of the heightened use of blockchain in the distribution of funds in the contemporary world.

The MOVE is expected to influence other projects, which will have a great environment to grow within Hong Kong’s encouraging business climate.

Hong Kong Financial Services Secretary Paul Chan has emphasized that the government is all for traditional institutions getting involved in the virtual asset markets through regulated channels.

“We encourage traditional financial institutions to participate in the virtual asset market in a compliant manner,” he said, clarifying that the existing regulatory framework aims to balance investor protection with innovation while enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness as an international financial center.

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