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| Dimension |
Pinned 🇭🇰 Hong Kong partly open Verified 2026-10-01
|
🇱🇻 Latvia
partly open
Verified 2026-10-01
|
|---|---|---|
| Licence type | SFC Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) licence on a dual basis: under the AMLO and, for tokens that are securities, under the SFO (Type 1 dealing + Type 7 automated trading). Stablecoin issuance is separately licensed by the HKMA under the Stablecoins Ordinance (Cap. 656). | MiCA CASP authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, administered nationally by Latvijas Banka; specific Latvian implementing statute name not confirmed in this research pass. |
| Regulator | SFC regulates VATPs and security-token activity; HKMA regulates stablecoin issuers and banks' VA activities. Staking and intermediary VA activity are covered by joint SFC-HKMA circulars. | Latvijas Banka (Bank of Latvia) is the lead CASP licensing/supervisory authority; sources note some residual/overlapping role for the FCMC on broader financial-market alignment, not fully reconciled in this pass. |
| Capital requirement | Hong Kong capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. |
| Timeline to authorisation | Hong Kong timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. |
| Local substance | Hong Kong local substance is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia local substance is included in the £349 pass. |
| Application cost | Hong Kong application cost is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia application cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Ongoing cost | Hong Kong ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Passporting | Hong Kong passporting is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia passporting is included in the £349 pass. |
| MiCA CASPs approved | Hong Kong mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. |
| Key restrictions | Hong Kong key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. |
| Recent changes | The SFC register lists 13 licensed virtual asset trading platforms, with NewBX the latest licence on 18 May 2026. Consultation on the proposed dealing, custodian, advisory and management licensing regimes is complete. On 16 September 2026 the Government said it was still formulating the legislative proposals and continued to target introduction of the bill within 2026; no bill had yet been introduced. | Latvijas Banka has issued multiple CASP licences during 2025-2026, including to SIA AlphaRoute and Backpack, and reportedly Paybis (May 2026, per one directory source). Latvia offers free pre-licensing consultations and a formal Innovation Hub. |
| Difficulty rating | Hong Kong difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. |
Informational only, not legal advice. A delta compares the sortable figure only (capital, timeline, cost, difficulty, passporting, approvals); it is not a judgement on overall suitability. Verify with qualified counsel before acting.
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