HashKey Exchange is the first platform to upgrade its licence to Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (providing automated trading services (“ATS”)) in Hong Kong. Its recent trading volume surged by 28.84%, reaching a peak of US$4.21 billion, nearly rivalling Binance and surpassing Bybit and OKX by a significant margin.

CoinGecko's Distrust

In trades on the HashKey Exchange platform, BTC/USD stands as the most active pair, with a trading volume reaching approximately US$3.48 billion within 24 hours, occupying over 80% of the exchange's total trading volume share.

However, CoinGecko gave the lowest red-light trust score to Hashkey's BTC/USD trading pair, indicating its lowest liquidity. The trust scores for the other 18 trading pairs are all rated as moderate.

(Source: CoinGecko)

Market Making？

HashKey Exchange's official website information indicates the platform recently launched a new round of HSK reward activities. Users receive 2 HSK tokens as a reward for every US$1,000 equivalent transaction volume completed. Industry experts speculate that the exchange's trading volume surged significantly, possibly due to market makers engaging in large-scale trading to earn HSK rewards on the exchange.

Additionally, the exchange launched a reward programme for API trading on September 1st. Users within the top 20% in trading volume and those with a transaction amount exceeding US$30 million within 30 days will receive a monthly reward of up to 100,000 HSK tokens.

The surge in trading volume is likely related to the aforementioned incentive activities. However, some question whether this surge in trading volume due to incentives violates the relevant regulations of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.