Written by: Deng Tong & AIMan, Jinse Finance
Has the “crypto-stock” trend reached state-owned securities firms?
On June 25, 2025, Guotai Junan International, a Chinese brokerage listed on the Hong Kong stock market, announced that it had obtained an upgrade of its license from the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission and could provide virtual asset trading services to its customers. After the news was released, the stock price of Guotai Junan International rose from HK$1.4 at the opening to HK$3.7, nearly doubling in one day.
You should know that Guotai Junan International is a brokerage firm that only provides a crypto service channel. Its connection with cryptocurrencies is far less close than that of "coin stocks".
Why can a license upgrade lead to an exaggerated increase in its stock price? Some people in the market even think that the national team is about to enter the crypto industry? This article explains.
1. What happened?
On June 25, 2025, Guotai Junan International officially announced that it has been officially approved to provide virtual asset trading services such as cryptocurrencies. Customers will be able to trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and stablecoins such as USDT directly on its platform.
The key points of the announcement are as follows:
On June 24, Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited ("Guotai Junan International" or "the Company", stock code: 1788.HK), a subsidiary of Cathay Haitong Group, was officially approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (hereinafter referred to as "SFC") to upgrade its existing securities trading license to provide virtual asset trading services and provide opinions on the basis of providing virtual asset trading services. After the license upgrade, customers will be able to directly trade virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) and stablecoins (such as Tether, etc.) on the Guotai Junan International platform. So far, Guotai Junan International has become the first Chinese brokerage firm in Hong Kong that can provide a full range of virtual asset-related trading services, covering the provision of virtual asset trading services, providing opinions in the process of virtual asset trading services, and issuing and distributing virtual asset-related products including over-the-counter derivatives.
Influenced by this good news, the share price of Guotai Junan International soared all the way, closing up 198.39% on the day, soaring from an opening price of HK$1.420 to a high of HK$3.700, setting a nearly 10-year high .
Guotai Junan International is a brokerage firm that does not provide matchmaking services. After the news spread further on the afternoon of the 25th, the market discovered that the Hong Kong compliant exchange Hashkey Exchange provided the matchmaking service. The token HSK issued by Hashkey Group immediately surged by 70%.
As mentioned above, Guotai Junan International is just a broker that only provides a channel for virtual currency services. Why is the market reaction so huge?
Ultimately, it is because Guotai Junan’s international background is intriguing and provides the market with huge room for imagination.
2. Who is Guotai Junan International? Its background is fascinating
Guotai Junan International is the first Chinese securities company to be listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through an initial public offering. Guotai Junan International was established in Hong Kong in 1993 and became the first company approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to be listed in Hong Kong in 2010. Its core businesses include (i) brokerage; (ii) corporate finance; (iii) loans and financing; (iv) asset management; (v) financial products; and (vi) wealth management. It is a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Composite Index, Hang Seng Composite Small Cap Index, FTSE Hong Kong Index and FTSE Hong Kong ex H Index.
According to public information, the absolute majority shareholder of Guotai Junan International is China's largest securities firm, Cathay Haitong Group, which holds a 74% stake .
Cathay Pacific Haitong Group is the result of the merger and reorganization of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, the leading domestic state-owned securities firms. The controlling shareholder is Shanghai International Group Co., Ltd., and the actual controller is the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has clearly stated that it will promote Cathay Pacific Haitong to become the "main force in building a financial powerhouse" and plans to obtain 10 billion yuan of state-owned capital injection to support innovative businesses in the next five years.
Cathay Pacific Haitong is one of the six financial services companies under the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
Source: Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission official website
The merged Guotai Haitong Company is strong. On March 4, 2025, Haitong Securities' A-shares were delisted, and Guotai Junan, as the surviving company, disclosed the 2024 annual financial statement review report of the simulated merger. The report shows that in 2024, the company achieved operating income of 58.646 billion yuan and net profit attributable to the parent company's owners of 9.030 billion yuan. As of the end of 2024, the total assets of the simulated merger company were 1.73 trillion yuan and the net assets attributable to the parent company were 328.3 billion yuan, and the capital strength ranked first in the industry.
Guotai Junan International has been approved to enter the crypto asset industry. Combined with the background of its shareholders and the recent series of combined punches launched by mainland China and Hong Kong ( mainland China's reflection on stablecoins , Hong Kong's accelerated promotion of stablecoins, etc.), it is inevitable to arouse people's imagination. This is also the reason why some people think that "the national team has entered the crypto industry."
It is no wonder that the share price of Guotai Junan International could double in one day.
3. Guotai Junan International has been early in developing cryptocurrencies
There are actually signs that Guotai Junan International has a good hand.
In May 2025, Guotai Junan International issued a document stating that according to the "Circular on Intermediaries Engaged in Tokenized Securities-Related Activities" issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, relevant business plans were submitted for the tokenized securities distribution business and the digital bond issuance business, and both have been confirmed by the regulators to have no further problems. It pointed out that Guotai Junan International submitted a wealth management-related business plan to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission on January 21, 2025, intending to distribute tokenized securities to customers or provide advice on tokenized securities on the basis of the original securities transactions. The types of tokenized securities covered by the plan include: structured products linked to multiple underlying assets (such as structured notes, over-the-counter derivatives), SFC-approved funds and non-approved funds, and bonds. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission sent a confirmation email on May 7, 2025, stating that there were no further questions about the plan. Tokenized securities refer to traditional financial instruments (such as stocks, bonds, funds, etc.) that use distributed ledger technology (DLT, such as blockchain) to achieve the management of the entire life cycle of securities in digital form. The nature is basically traditional securities packaged in tokenization, and the form innovation is achieved by technical means.
In August last year, Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited released an unaudited interim results announcement for the six months ending June 30, 2024, which disclosed that Guotai Junan Group was the first to launch structured notes linked to virtual asset spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the Hong Kong market, adding new elements to diversified product services and actively responding to the new capital investor entry scheme (CIES) launched by the Hong Kong government. Guotai Junan said that the Hong Kong government has actively introduced policies and measures to promote local economic development and attract investment. The market expects that the IPO market is expected to gradually regain momentum. At the same time, local supervision is expected to accelerate the implementation of regulatory measures on virtual assets, which is conducive to the launch of diversified products.
Source: Guotai Junan International Official Account
