On June 25, Guotai Junan International's stock price surged 80% in early trading and skyrocketed over 190% during the day, becoming one of the strongest stocks in the Hong Kong market. This dramatic rise in stock price is accompanied by the traditional financial brokerage's high-profile entry into the coin stock arena. The company announced today that it has received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to officially enter cryptocurrency trading services. Along with several Hong Kong-listed companies previously laying out Bitcoin and Ethereum asset allocations, as well as the impending policy catalyst brought about by the (Stablecoin Regulation), the Hong Kong stock market is quietly welcoming a wave of 'coin stock frenzy.'
Brokerage Aircraft Carrier
Guotai Junan International is an important subsidiary of the Guotai Haitong Group, primarily engaged in traditional finance-related businesses. The company operates through six business departments. The brokerage department engages in providing clients with securities, futures, options, and leveraged forex trading, as well as brokerage and insurance brokerage services.
Its parent company, Guotai Haitong Securities, was formed in 2024 by the merger of the two leading brokerages, Guotai Junan and Haitong Securities, becoming a 'carrier-level' brokerage that provides a variety of financial services, including investment banking and asset management, to individual and institutional clients. In April 2025, it was officially renamed Guotai Haitong Securities. Haitong Securities was established in 1988, while Guotai Securities and Junan Securities were both established in 1992 and merged to form Guotai Junan in August 1999. This 'carrier-level' brokerage is not satisfied with traditional financial business and has begun to venture into RWA and tokenized securities.
On June 25, Guotai Junan International officially obtained approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to upgrade its existing securities license to a comprehensive license capable of providing virtual asset trading and related advisory services. It became the first Hong Kong-based Chinese brokerage firm to gain this full-fledged virtual asset trading service qualification. Guotai Junan International's stock price surged more than 80% in early trading, with an intraday peak increase exceeding 190%.
Thus, Guotai Junan International becomes the first Hong Kong-based Chinese brokerage firm capable of providing comprehensive virtual asset-related trading services, with its service scope fully covering virtual asset trading, professional advisory services during the trading process, as well as the issuance and distribution of virtual asset-related products, including over-the-counter derivatives.
This means that soon, Guotai Junan International's clients will be able to trade a variety of virtual assets, including mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as stablecoins like USDT, directly through its platform, marking a significant acceleration of traditional brokerages transitioning to Web3 finance.
Competition or Cooperation? Comparison with Hashkey
Guotai Junan International's approach to entering the crypto trading service can be summarized as: 'Based on the identity of a traditional brokerage, starting from asset tokenization, and gradually expanding to compliant virtual asset trading services.'
HashKey is currently one of the most representative licensed crypto trading platforms in Hong Kong. Its approach to entering crypto trading services can be summarized as: 'Starting from compliance, building institutional-grade infrastructure, and steadily expanding into the retail market.'
Against the backdrop of Hong Kong accelerating the construction of a virtual asset center, HashKey Exchange and Guotai Junan International represent two different paths of crypto financial practice, respectively entering the RWA and tokenized securities markets from the perspectives of Web3 native and traditional brokerage.
As one of the first licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong, HashKey has currently opened BTC and ETH spot trading to retail users and has established deposit and withdrawal paths with local banks such as ZA Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. The platform also provides OTC and custody services and is actively expanding infrastructure for stablecoins and asset tokenization. Its parent company, HashKey Group, is also active in the Web3 investment field.
Unlike HashKey's focus on trading scenarios, Guotai Junan International's strategy is more inclined towards 'chain reform' and 'securities-level asset tokenization.' Since January of this year, it has submitted and received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for the issuance and distribution plans of tokenized structured notes, funds, and digital bonds, aiming to map traditional financial products onto the blockchain. The project approvals occurred in April and May of this year.
HashKey is more suitable for crypto-native users; for example, if you want to buy BTC, stake on-chain, or arbitrage USDT, it is a 'compliant yet decentralized-friendly' entry. Guotai Junan International's services are closer to the investment banking role of 'on-chain asset securitization'; it does not trade coins with you but may underwrite a 'tokenized treasury bond' and provide on-chain settlement services.
Is the Hong Kong stock market's heat shifting from 'stablecoin concepts' to 'coin stocks'?
The Hong Kong Legislative Council recently passed the (Stablecoin Regulation), which will officially take effect on August 1. The first batch of issuing institutions includes JD Coin Chain Technology, Yuan Coin Innovation Technology, and Standard Chartered Hong Kong Consortium. Following this news, related stablecoin concept stocks such as ZhongAn Online, JD Group, and LianLian Digital all surged collectively.
Meanwhile, the US stock market has sparked a new round of 'public company hoarding coins,' with enterprises following the 'MicroStrategy path' to incorporate cryptocurrencies into their balance sheets through financing and bond issuance. SBET's purchase of ETH and DFDV's purchase of SOL led to stock price surges of dozens of times. On June 24, Nano Labs announced it would raise $500 million through convertible bond private placements for a BNB reserve strategy, with an intraday peak increase of 170%. There are already signs that this trend may repeat in the Hong Kong stock market.
Boya Interactive began purchasing and holding Bitcoin in 2023. As of March 31, 2025, Boya Interactive holds 3,351 BTC and 297 ETH, making it the company with the largest cryptocurrency holdings on the Hong Kong stock market, with its stock price rising from HKD 3.3 to HKD 6.8 between April and May, achieving a doubling. Additionally, Guofu Innovation purchased Bitcoin worth HKD 36 million from March to August 2024; LanKong Interactive held BTC and ETH worth USD 8.8 million as of mid-2024. These Hong Kong-based 'MicroStrategy' companies have significantly benefited from the recent cryptocurrency market boom, becoming new focal points for capital.
Aside from the 'MicroStrategy' model, other cryptocurrency concept stocks have recently experienced concentrated explosions. Companies such as OKLink, which focuses on blockchain browsers, NewFire Technology, which concentrates on digital asset custody services, and OSL Group, which provides digital asset infrastructure services, have been strengthening in May's market, becoming hotspots for capital attention.
On June 25, Guotai Junan International's stock price soared over 190% in a single day due to the introduction of virtual asset trading business, marking a key step in the transition of traditional brokerages to Web3. Whether through the 'MicroStrategy path' or the layout of crypto business around trading, custody, and infrastructure, these efforts are collectively driving a new round of market trends in the Hong Kong stock market.
