ZA Bank in Hong Kong has stepped up to offer crypto account-related services even as most banks in the US have distanced themselves from the sector.
The biggest virtual bank in Hong Kong, ZA Bank, has warmed up to the crypto sector as it gets ready to offer services for the conversion of fiat money to crypto and vice versa. According to a report by a leading daily, users could convert their crypto deposits held in exchanges for US dollars, Chinese yuan, or Hong Kong dollars through the bank. Account services for crypto will also be offered by ZA Bank henceforth.
Around 100 firms participated in a trial in a regulatory sandbox for the accounts, but unfortunately, Chinese firms could not participate due to regulatory issues and restrictions by China. CEO of ZA Bank Ronald Lu informed of the developments as the bank becomes one of the biggest virtual banks to offer crypto-fiat conversions. For now, the operations for the conversions would continue with two local exchanges, HashKey and OSL, and then expand to other licensed exchanges.
“For the dozens of interested firms, big or small, from abroad and local, top of their concern is to have a path to make things work,” said Ronald Lu, referring to the difficulty faced by crypto firms to find banking partners post the bank failures of the United States in 2023.
Hong Kong has been in the news every now and then in recent times, and only for the positive turn of the crypto sector. Notably, it has taken several initiatives to become a crypto hub and provide an environment for crypto firms to grow in Hong Kong,