Hong Kong approves first regulated 24/7 retail tokenised money market fund trading
Key points
- The SFC has approved the first regulated 24/7 retail trading of a tokenised money market fund, with ChinaAMC Digital Money Market Fund now live on PantherTrade.
- Futu Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed digital broker, owns PantherTrade, the crypto exchange hosting the product.
- Total assets under management stand at approximately $660 million, with roughly 16% held in retail share classes; only Class F shares are currently tradable on PantherTrade.
- Tokens cannot be withdrawn from PantherTrade and legal ownership remains on the fund's off-chain register, making this closed-loop order book trading rather than free on-chain token transfer.
- Hong Kong's VATP licensing regime, which allows a single licence to cover both cryptocurrencies and tokenised securities, is the structural enabler that makes this retail product possible on a crypto exchange.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved round-the-clock retail trading of a tokenised money market fund, with the ChinaAMC Digital Money Market Fund now live on PantherTrade, a crypto exchange operated by Futu Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed digital broker. The fund carries roughly $660 million in assets under management, though only the Class F retail share classes, representing around 16% of assets, are currently tradable on the platform.
The structure is a closed loop rather than open on-chain token movement: investors can enter and exit positions at any time without being bound by traditional subscription and redemption windows, but tokens cannot be withdrawn from PantherTrade and legal ownership remains on the fund’s off-chain register. Trading occurs via an order book within the exchange’s walled environment. Settlement infrastructure is also evolving around the fund; ChinaAMC (Hong Kong) began incorporating HSBC‘s tokenised deposit capabilities into the fund last month, and in September completed a subscription and redemption trial using the Standard Chartered Anchorpoint regulated HKD stablecoin.
Hong Kong’s licensing framework gives this structure a regulatory leg up over many comparable markets. Virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) licensed by the SFC are permitted to trade both cryptocurrencies and tokenised securities under a single licence, whereas most other jurisdictions require a separate securities licence for the latter. That consolidated licensing pathway is what makes a regulated retail product on a crypto-native venue legally workable here.