The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced that a total of 11 platforms—HKbitEX, PantherTrade, Accumulus, DFX Labs, Bixincom, xWhale, YAX, Bullish, Cryptocom, WhaleFin, and Matrixport HK—have officially applied for virtual asset management licenses. Among the major and well-known crypto brokers, only Cryptocom received a license, while the others withdrew. The reason for these withdrawals was revealed to be a requirement that restricted Chinese users in any region of the world, which most offshore brokers were unwilling to comply with.