Futu fired the first shot of Hong Kong brokerage firms'

Author: Zhou Zhou, Foresight News  

Futu, China's largest internet securities firm with 27 million registered users, is writing the first template for the crypto transformation of Chinese (Hong Kong) securities firms through its exploration in the crypto field.  

On the evening of August 20, 2025, as Futu released its second-quarter financial report, the market gained a clearer understanding of its layout and progress in cryptocurrency business. Since officially launching crypto trading services in August 2024, Futu has rapidly expanded its crypto business to Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States in just one year, achieving full-scale operations in these three regions.  

In Hong Kong, Futu has been providing crypto trading services to local residents for a year, and its applied VATP license is expected to be approved for official operation within the next six months. In Singapore, Futu Moomoo has also been offering crypto trading services to Singapore residents for a year, making it the only licensed internet securities firm providing crypto trading in Singapore. In the United States, Futu began offering cryptocurrency trading services in most states in June this year, supporting more than 30 mainstream cryptocurrency spot trading pairs.  

Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States... Futu is striving to quickly obtain cryptocurrency operating licenses worldwide to develop this new business line.  

Through this year of exploration, Futu has become one of the earliest and most in-depth Chinese securities firms to explore crypto business. During the 2025 Q2 earnings call, a Futu executive stated: "By the end of the second quarter of 2025, the balance of Futu's crypto-related assets reached approximately HK$4 billion, with the highest daily trading volume reaching US$40 million."  

Futu's Crypto Landscape  

As global securities firms rush to deploy cryptocurrency business, this field is gradually becoming a new trend in the financial industry. Take Robinhood, the largest internet securities firm in the United States, for example. As early as 2018, it launched cryptocurrency trading services, providing users with channels to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and various mainstream digital assets.  

As of the second quarter of 2025, Robinhood's cryptocurrency revenue surged by approximately 98% year-on-year to US$160 million, while the company's total revenue was US$989 million. It is evident that cryptocurrency business has become an important and unignorable part of the revenue structure of American internet securities firms like Robinhood, indicating that the crypto transformation of securities firms is accelerating.  

Witnessing the influx of American securities firms, Hong Kong securities firms are also accelerating their entry into this track. According to statistics, up to 40 Hong Kong securities firms have successfully upgraded their "Type 1 License" to engage in virtual asset business. Among them, Futu Niuniu and Victory Securities are the outstanding ones.  

Futu's layout in crypto is very extensive. In the Hong Kong market alone, it involves: upgrading the Type 1 License (Hong Kong users can purchase cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana on the Futu App), applying for the VATP license (which can serve both retail users and institutional clients), Huaxia Fund tokenized money market funds (RWA and crypto-based wealth management), and stablecoins (Futu participates in stablecoin business layout through a HK$440 million investment in天星银行).  

In particular, the VATP license has been a hot topic in the market. Once approved, it means that Futu will have a compliant cryptocurrency exchange to operate in Hong Kong. A Futu executive stated during the Q2 earnings call: "As an entry point for cryptocurrencies, we believe that in addition to spot trading, there may be more room for monetization in the future, such as staking and derivative businesses."  

"Obtaining the VATP license not only allows us to do business with retail users, saving corresponding costs in upstream clearing and settlement, but also enables us to provide upstream services to institutional clients such as securities firms," the executive added.  

Therefore, although the current crypto business accounts for less than 1% of Futu's overall business volume, it has received considerable attention within Futu. During the 2025 Q2 earnings call, both institutional investors such as Morgan Stanley and Futu executives frequently mentioned the crypto business.  

A Hundred Schools of Thought Contend: What Are Futu's Advantages?  

Currently, there are quite a few companies that have emerged in Hong Kong's crypto market, including HashKey, OSL, Victory Securities, and Tiger Securities. According to incomplete statistics, there are already more than 50 companies that can provide cryptocurrency services to retail users.  

So, what are Futu's advantages?  

First, Futu's user base itself has become one of its biggest advantages in entering the crypto field. Futu has 27.12 million registered users, and the number of "customers with assets" increased by 41% year-on-year to 2.88 million. Moreover, this number is still growing. During the 2025 Q2 earnings call, an executive said: In the first half of 2025, Futu added 460,000 "customers with assets."  

Second, Futu's own revenue and profitability are continuously injecting capital and providing protection for its new business. According to the 2025 Q2 financial report, Futu achieved a revenue of up to HK$5.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of approximately 70%, and a net profit of HK$2.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 113%. Futu also stated that it will further increase investment in crypto and AI products in the future.  

Futu's inherent internet genes are highly compatible with cryptocurrency business. As an internet securities firm, Futu is good at using new technologies and exploring new assets, thereby attracting more retail users from traditional securities firms and achieving dual growth in user scale and business innovation. The success of Robinhood in the cryptocurrency field has also confirmed the development potential of internet securities firms in this field.  

In addition, Futu has long been布局 the global market through stock trading, which has laid the foundation for the growth of its future crypto business.  

A Futu executive said: "The Hong Kong market and the Malaysian market contributed more than half of the new customers with assets in the second quarter, and other customer growth mainly came from markets such as Singapore, the United States, and Japan."  

It is understood that apart from the Hong Kong entity, Singapore and the United States are Futu's largest overseas markets, followed by Malaysia and Japan, which are expanding rapidly, and Australia and Canada also show steady growth momentum.  

"We will also launch the functions of depositing and withdrawing coins in Singapore and the United States in the second half of the year, which have already been launched in Hong Kong," Futu's trading framework can be adapted to crypto businesses around the world, allowing the marginal cost effect to decrease while profits increase.  

In July 2025, Futu Moomoo launched cryptocurrency trading in most states in the United States, supporting more than 30 mainstream cryptocurrency spot trading pairs.  

Behind Futu's All-in: The "Crypto Transformation" of Hong Kong Securities Firms  

Futu's full-scale entry into cryptocurrencies is also a microcosm of the "crypto transformation" of the entire Hong Kong securities industry.  

Since Hong Kong's Virtual Asset Declaration in 2022, over the past three years, Hong Kong's crypto industry has formed a huge industry involving more than 40 securities firms, over 35 fund companies, and more than 10 large banks and large accounting firms in virtual asset business. With the official implementation of Hong Kong's stablecoin policy in August this year, it is predicted that a number of stablecoin companies and upstream and downstream enterprises will emerge in Hong Kong.  

As a new type of financial asset, cryptocurrencies have been widely recognized and accepted by Hong Kong's financial industry. As an emerging track, the value of its market increment is difficult to simply estimate. This not only provides opportunities for Hong Kong's local small and medium-sized securities firms to overtake on curves but also opens up new growth space for internet securities firms.  

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