Hong Kong’s OSL Becomes First Licensed Exchange to Offer BNB Trading for Institutions

OSL Group, operator of Hong Kong’s first publicly listed and licensed crypto exchange, has become the city’s first regulated platform to support institutional trading of BNB, the native token of Binance.

Announced on Wednesday, the new listing is restricted to professional investors holding portfolios worth at least HK$8 million ($1.02 million).

Eligible traders can access BNB pairs against the US dollar, as well as stablecoins USDT and USDC.

BNB’s OSL Listing Marks Key Milestone in Hong Kong’s Crypto Licensing Push

BNB’s debut on OSL marks a significant regulatory milestone, as it becomes the latest cryptocurrency available for institutional trading under Hong Kong’s licensing regime.

In a post on X, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, acknowledged the move, calling it a key step in BNB’s global legitimacy.

“Another cryptocurrency to be traded on a Hong Kong-licensed exchange,” he wrote.

OSL CEO Kevin Cui described the development as “a major step forward for Hong Kong’s virtual asset market,” emphasizing growing demand from Asian institutions for regulated access to digital assets beyond Bitcoin and Ether.

With BNB now added, OSL offers 24 tokens for professional investors. Rival platform HashKey supports 26.

Update. This is for institutional traders only for now. Not retail, yet.

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) September 3, 2025

The move comes just days after Zhao’s high-profile appearances in Hong Kong, including a keynote at the Bitcoin Asia conference and a panel at the University of Hong Kong.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Zhao praised the city’s crypto ambitions but warned that regulators must accelerate token approvals to stay competitive.

Currently, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) permits only five tokens, including BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, and LINK, for retail trading.

The institutional-only approval of BNB hints at cautious optimism in expanding offerings without exposing retail investors to higher-risk assets.

BNB remains the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, according to CoinGecko. Zhao, through his family office YZi Labs, continues to drive BNB’s presence in Hong Kong.

Last month, China Renaissance announced a $100 million purchase of BNB in partnership with YZi Labs and plans to support token listings and real-world asset applications tied to the BNB Chain.

OSL Group’s Revenue Jumps 58% in H1

As reported, OSL Group reported a 58% year-on-year revenue increase for the first half of 2025, reaching HK$195.4 million ($25.1 million), even as operating losses more than doubled during its aggressive global expansion.

The Hong Kong-based company said losses from continuing operations widened to HK$20.3 million ($2.6 million), up from HK$9.6 million a year earlier.

The company attributed the growing loss primarily to a sharp rise in headcount, expanding from 167 employees to 568 within a year.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has unveiled its second major policy statement on digital assets, placing stablecoin regulation and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization at the core of its strategy to become a global fintech hub.

The new “LEAP” framework focuses on legal clarity, ecosystem growth, real-world adoption, and talent development, with a stablecoin licensing regime set to launch on August 1.