Securities companies "receive coins", exchanges "break the circle": A new era of crypto asset circulation has begun?

Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Edited by: TB, ChainCatcher

Internet brokers are "receiving coins" and crypto exchanges are also "breaking the circle".

Yesterday, Futu Securities announced the launch of Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT recharge services, where users can transfer crypto assets directly into their accounts and open up the funding channel from the currency circle to the stock market. On the other hand, crypto exchanges are no longer limited to the in-circle ecosystem and are deploying payment scenarios. Some platforms even include traditional assets such as US stocks and gold into the trading map.

On the one hand, securities companies open up the encryption entrance, and on the other hand, exchanges integrate resources and expand payment and compliance channels. Will 2025 be a new starting point for the circulation of crypto assets?

Futu 's crypto ambitions

Futu Securities has been at the forefront of Hong Kong stock app download list for a long time, with more than 25 million registered users worldwide and customer assets of up to HK$743.3 billion. Today, it is accelerating into the fast lane of crypto assets.

As early as 2023, Futu began to plan the crypto track. In November of that year, its virtual asset platform PantherTrade submitted an application for a virtual asset trading platform license to the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission. On August 1, 2024, Futu officially launched the cryptocurrency trading function, opening spot trading pairs such as BTC and ETH.

Yesterday, Futu further opened up the recharge services of Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT. Qualified users can transfer crypto assets directly to Futu account and freely switch to diversified investment portfolios such as Hong Kong and US stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds and virtual assets.

According to Futu official website information, the minimum threshold for recharge of BTC and ETH is 0.0002 BTC and 0.001 ETH respectively, and USDT recharge is only open to professional investors. Some users reported that Futu's recharge speed is comparable to that of mainstream exchanges and the experience is smooth.

Source: Futu official website

" Brokerage collects coins" is the trend

Futu is not an isolated case. Traditional brokerages have become a global trend to accelerate their embrace of crypto assets. In the Hong Kong market, Victory Securities has taken an earlier step. In May 2024, users opened their users to deposit and withdraw USDT and USDC through VictoryX APP, and this year it proposed to take "virtual asset full ecological service provider" as the core of development in the next three years.

In the global battlefield, American brokerage Robinhood is one of the earliest representatives of "coins received". In 2024, its crypto trading volume soared to $143 billion, a year-on-year surge of 259%, approaching two-thirds of Coinbase’s retail trading volume. Robinhood is not satisfied with this. By acquiring Bitstamp, it plans to launch crypto services in Singapore by the end of 2025 to accelerate its stake in the Asia-Pacific market.

Coinbase and Robinhood crypto trading volume, source: insights4.vc

The entrants are increasing their investments, while the waiters are catching up. Schwab Financial is expected to open spot trading between BTC and ETH this year, and Morgan Stanley's E*Trade also plans to launch crypto services by 2026.

Encryption platform "breaks the circle" and upgrades

Not only are traditional brokerages moving closer to crypto assets, but crypto platforms are also "breaking the circle" in reverse and actively connecting with traditional financial markets.

Bybit recently revealed that it will launch traditional asset trading functions such as US stocks, and plans to directly trade US stocks, stock indexes, gold, crude oil and other products within the platform within the year to further expand its asset coverage.

At the same time, encryption platforms are accelerating the opening of payment and consumption scenarios. OKX launches OKX Pay, the "Yu'ebao in the currency circle", allowing users to convert idle assets into stable income tools; platforms such as Bitget and Coinbase have launched crypto cards, and OKX and Kraken's crypto cards are also being prepared, and digital assets are seamlessly connected to online and offline consumer life through payment.

Focusing on the layout of "crypto cards", the exchange's move has not only expanded the application boundaries of crypto assets, but also strengthened the platform's ecological closed loop, enhanced user stickiness, and became a new business growth curve.

From starting with crypto assets to connecting the world's mainstream investment products and payment channels, the boundaries of crypto platforms are being reshaped. Crypto KOL Rocky asserted: "There are only two types of exchanges in the future. One is a comprehensive platform that integrates RWA, and the other is a traditional exchange that is still sticking to the pure crypto asset position."

Perhaps the appearance of the next generation of exchanges is being redefined.

Coin-stock exchange has become an inevitable trend

The accelerated trend of currency-stock interoperability has brought both opportunities and challenges. In the future, crypto projects will compete head-on with the global capital market liquidity and attention. At the same time, more investors may begin to evaluate crypto assets from the perspective of US stocks and Hong Kong stocks, and low-quality tokens will be eliminated at an accelerated pace, pushing the market to tilt towards high-quality targets. The adoption rate of stablecoin will continue to rise, and the crypto market will move towards the mainstream financial system.

From a global perspective, the regulatory framework is becoming increasingly clear and the compliance threshold is rising, providing a path for steady development for traditional securities companies and mainstream encryption platforms; on the other hand, listing, mergers and acquisitions and cross-border integration are becoming normalized, and the integration of traditional financial capital and encryption infrastructure is reshaping the market structure.

Crypto assets are crossing ecological islands and moving towards broader circulation and application scenarios.