On 7 April 2025, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued guidance for authorized institutions (and subsidiaries of locally incorporated authorized institutions) and SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platforms respectively, who are interested in providing Staking Services. The guidance outlines the regulatory framework and expected standards for providing Staking Services.
On the same day, the SFC revised its “Circular on SFC-authorized funds with exposure to virtual assets” issued on 22 December 2023 to facilitate SFC-authorized virtual asset funds (SFC-authorized VA Funds) which wish to engage in staking and other virtual asset-related activities.

On 19 February 2025, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a regulatory roadmap for Hong Kong’s virtual asset market. Entitled “‘A-S-P-I-Re’ Roadmap for a Resilient Virtual Asset Ecosystem”, it sets out a five-pillar framework (Access, Safeguards, Products, Infrastructure, and Relationships) that is intended to serve as a strategic action plan for addressing emerging new priorities in the virtual asset space (e.g., managing liquidity fragmentation and ensuring investor protection across decentralized and centralized platforms) and, in the SFC’s words, “future-proof[ing] Hong Kong’s VA ecosystem”.

On 10 December 2024, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024 (Cth) received royal assent. This legislation makes material amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and brings about significant reform to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime.
These amendments have sought to close key legislative gaps and better align Australia’s AML/CTF regime with the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force.