According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the Financial Supervisory Commission plans to open applications for financial institutions to conduct "virtual asset custody business" trials and hopes to solicit external opinions for 15 days before officially accepting trial application cases.
The Commission's explanatory materials state: "In response to the establishment of the Virtual Currency Commercial Association and the future demand for virtual asset custody, and considering the international trends of financial institutions engaging in virtual asset custody, we aim to promote financial innovation by planning to conduct themed business trials and consider opening financial institutions to handle virtual asset custody."
The explanatory materials show that the information that financial institutions must provide when applying for custody business trials (related to the business model) includes: the types of virtual assets to be custodied (such as Bitcoin or Ethereum) and the service targets for custody (such as virtual asset exchanges or institutional investors).
According to a report by the Central News Agency, Hu Zehua, Director of the Comprehensive Planning Department of the Commission, stated at a regular press conference on Tuesday that they will revise the explanatory materials based on external opinions and officially announce the date for accepting trial applications. The Commission understands that currently, three private banks have expressed interest in virtual asset custody business, hoping to serve targets including virtual asset exchanges and professional institutional investors. The regulatory agency estimates that the first application case will emerge in the first quarter of next year.