The list of applicants for crypto asset trading platform licenses from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission shows that there are currently a total of 6 companies applying for virtual asset trading platform licenses. The latest application is from the fully-owned subsidiary of Futu Holdings, Cheetah Trading (Hong Kong) Limited, which submitted its license application on Wednesday (15th). The virtual asset trading platform operated by the company is named PantherTrade.
According to the information, Chen Zhihu was appointed as a director of PantherTrade on September 14. He previously served as the Investment Director at Huobi Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited. Huobi later changed its name to Nova Tech, and Chen Zhihu's No. 4 license at Nova Asset Management concluded in May 2023. Another director is Hong Yimin. The company submitted the incorporation form on March 7 this year, with the first director being Fang Xingzhi. The information indicates that Fang Xingzhi served as a director at JD Securities Limited from September 2019 to July 2020.