Banking challenges grow for Hong Kong’s crypto firms after Silvergate, Signature closures, despite city’s push to become hub

Cryptocurrency firms in Hong Kong have a headache: after the closure of the world’s two biggest crypto-friendly banks, Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank, they are finding it even harder to open local accounts given that banks in the city are not keen to serve them, industry insiders said.

Opening local bank accounts still remains a daunting task for many crypto firms in Hong Kong despite the government’s push to make the city a virtual asset hub. The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) last week took control of New York’s Signature Bank, following the rapid collapse of Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). All three banks were, at least at one point, counted among the US’s most crypto-friendly financial institutions.