One of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms, the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange (BitMEX), has recruited a Hong Kong regulatory veteran to work with watchdogs worldwide to develop a proper set of rules to help the industry grow.
BitMEX appointed Angelina Kwan on Tuesday to become its chief operating officer with immediate effective, overseeing the overall development of the company.
Kwan, a certified public accountant, served as managing director and head of regulatory compliance for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing from January 2015 until the end of August this year. Previously, she was a director at the Securities and Futures Commission between 1998 and 2006, covering enforcement and market supervision.
Between the two regulatory roles, she worked at brokerage firms including Reorient and CLSA.
“I hope my previous experience will help in establishing a constructive dialogue with the various regulatory authorities around the world over the development of regulation in the cryptocurrency industry,” she said in a telephone interview on Tue
BitMEX only handles bitcoin, which since its creation in 2009 has become the best-known of the many cryptocurrencies in the market. It uses encryption and a blockchain transaction database, enabling the fast and anonymous transfer of funds without a centralised payment system.
The platform made headlines after it recently agreed to pay US$600,000 a month to rent office space in Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Center, a record at HK$225 (US$29) per square foot. BitMEX’s new offices will make it a neighbour of the SFC, which is in the same building.
China and South Korea banned digital coin sales last year while Hong Kong and many other markets are yet to fully regulate cryptocurrency, leaving exchange platforms unburdened by a strict set of rules.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam last month warned that trading in virtual currencies carries high risks because the de facto central bank does not consider it a “currency”. The SFC, the city’s investment regulator, has warned many times about the dangers of fraud and market manipulation posed by cryptocurrencies.