At the Consensus 2026 Hong Kong conference on February 11, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced three major new regulatory measures for virtual assets. The new rules cover margin financing, a framework for perpetual contracts, and a system for affiliated market makers. According to the announcement, the measures are intended to improve market liquidity, strengthen risk-management tools, and lay the groundwork for the tokenization of real-world assets.
Can Bitcoin and Ethereum be used as collateral? Will platforms be allowed to introduce affiliated market makers? Will perpetual contracts be limited to professional investors? Below is a closer look at Hong Kong’s latest virtual-asset regulatory moves in 2026 and what this “Hong Kong approach” means for the market.
Three-pronged push to improve market liquidity
The SFC’s three new policies are designed to address liquidity issues in the virtual-asset market in a systematic way while keeping risks under control. The measures are examined one by one below.
