In August 2025, leading institutional-grade digital asset prime broker LTP officially established its office in Hong Kong. This move represents a significant milestone in LTP’s journey in digital assets, underscoring its leadership in trading, technology-driven services, and compliance management.
As a global prime broker, LTP is dedicated to building a secure, compliant, and scalable financial infrastructure for the digital asset market. On the occasion of its Hong Kong office opening, LTP Founder and CEO Jack Yang, together with LTP Hong Kong CEO Ethan Wang, sat down with MetaEra CEO Jessica Yang to share their insights on industry trends and the company’s global strategy.
Founder’s Perspective: Passion for Technology and Industry Innovation
Jack began by recalling his entry into the crypto industry:
“I entered the crypto space in 2018. Before that, I worked as an aircraft designer in the aerospace industry. After reading the Bitcoin whitepaper, I was deeply inspired. I felt it marked the dawn of a new era.”
He vividly described that moment:
“It was as if I had discovered a new continent, a place where many technological ideals could be realized. So, I promptly resigned from my previous position and devoted myself to crypto.”
Jack’s first role in the industry was at TokenInsight, where he focused on project ratings, exchange liquidity assessments, and quantitative fund research. His core task was to help investors identify valuable assets, assess potential risks, and develop deeper understanding of the assets they invested in.
Through these observations, Jack realized that the infrastructure supporting institutional trading was still in its infancy. While crypto was attracting both technologists and financial professionals, the underlying infrastructure was still weak—leaving enormous room for development.
Jack recognized an early trend: around 2019, beyond crypto-native trading firms, funds, and family offices, traditional institutions such as Standard Chartered, DBS, BBVA, as well as large PE firms and multi-manager funds, were beginning to explore digital assets.
“At that time, large-scale institutional entry had not yet begun, but early movers like proprietary trading firms, VCs, secondary funds, and family offices were already active in crypto. The trading execution, lending, custody, and fiat on/off ramp services they needed were still underdeveloped. Unlike in traditional finance—where such services are separated and regulated—most of these functions in crypto were concentrated at exchanges. This presented both gaps and risks.”
Jack concluded that if institutions were to enter in the future, a safer and more standardized infrastructure would be essential.
“Seeing how traditional institutions rely on robust infrastructure, while crypto lacked a secure and regulated system, gave me the idea of building such a platform. That was the initial vision for LTP.”
Products, Technology, and AI Applications
Jack then outlined LTP’s three-pronged product and technology strategy: trading, asset management, and technology tools—all designed to provide institutional clients with comprehensive, low-latency, and efficient services.
Trading Services
Through LTP Prime Services, the company enables institutional investors to access liquidity from the top 20 exchanges across crypto, equities, commodities, and FX markets—facilitating unified multi-asset clearing.
“With LTP , you can use Bitcoin as margin to trade equities, or equities to participate in crypto trading. This greatly improves capital efficiency while simplifying operations,” Jack explained.
Asset Management Services
LTP is building a diversified asset management platform, offering curated products for different investors. At present, offerings focus on crypto—quant strategies, lending products, options, and other derivatives—all subject to rigorous risk controls. The platform will eventually expand into traditional assets such as equity funds, money market funds, private equity, and private credit, accessible via both crypto and fiat. Current AUM already exceeds USD 1 billion, mostly in crypto assets.
Technology and AI
On the technology side, LTP provides low-latency trading, real-time clearing, and risk management systems to enhance efficiency for trading firms, banks, and multi-manager funds. AI plays a core role in this strategy:
The first is Internal Efficiency – Around 20% of LTP’s code for software development, research, and risk control is AI-generated. By standardizing data and APIs, AI integrates seamlessly into workflows, significantly boosting productivity.
The second is Market Data Analysis – AI rapidly processes massive volumes of news and trading data, providing insights, strategy suggestions, and even potential trading signals.
“In an era of information overload, these tools help investors pinpoint the most crucial data and make optimal decisions,” Jack noted.
LTP Hong Kong: Strategic and Compliance Hub
According to Ethan, the city’s role as a free port and global liquidity hub makes it an ideal location for bridging blockchain and traditional finance. The Hong Kong office will not only serve the local market but also act as a strategic and compliance hub for LTP’s global operations.
The office has three core mandates:
Global Strategic Hub
Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center, its deep talent pool, and free-port advantages allow LTP to recruit top talent and support global expansion, providing a unified platform for Asia-Pacific and worldwide markets.
Compliance Hub
Compliance is the cornerstone for institutional adoption and sustainable growth. With Hong Kong’s clear regulatory framework, LTP has already secured Type 1, 2, 4, 5, and 9 licenses, making the office the compliance center for Asia-Pacific while supporting global expansion.
“Without compliance, users, partners, and regulators cannot have confidence. Compliance is what ensures sustainable business growth,” Jack emphasized.
LTP’s compliance footprint extends beyond Hong Kong. The firm has obtained VASP (for digital assets) and SIBA (for traditional assets) licenses in BVI, becoming one of the first institutions to hold both. It also holds licenses in Spain and Australia, is close to securing a license in Dubai, and plans to apply for a license in Singapore and the U.S.
By combining technology and regulatory advantages, LTP aims to build a next-generation clearing and settlement system supporting multi-asset, multi-market institutional trading.
Product and Market Hub
The LTP Hong Kong office will house a local product team to align closely with client needs and provide tailored solutions in trading, clearing, and asset management—ensuring that product capabilities evolve in sync with market demand.
“Hong Kong is not only a financial center with strong talent and regulation, but also a place where trust can flourish,” Jack added. “Blockchain is about solving the problem of trust through transparency and decentralization. Hong Kong’s compliant and open environment strengthens this foundation of trust—one of the main reasons we chose to establish our office here.”
Looking Ahead: Blockchain and the Acceleration of Institutional Finance
Jack believes blockchain is reshaping global finance, delivering a qualitative leap in capital and time efficiency, as well as cross-border collaboration.
“Compared with traditional finance, where cross-border settlement can take hours or even days, blockchain enables instant settlement. This is not just an incremental improvement—it’s a game-changer and will become indispensable for institutional investors.”
He also highlighted the growing convergence of traditional finance and digital assets. Products such as ETFs, stablecoins, and tokenized assets are enabling institutions to access digital assets in a compliant and secure manner. This not only drives financial product innovation but also makes traditional players more aware of blockchain’s potential.
As institutional adoption accelerates, infrastructure, regulation, and compliance will become increasingly vital—providing safeguards, filling risk gaps, and building trust for investors.
Against this backdrop, Hong Kong—with its robust regulatory system, abundant talent, and global liquidity—stands out as a natural hub for the integration of blockchain and traditional finance.
Looking ahead, the digital asset market will evolve into a multi-asset, multi-market integrated ecosystem, enabling institutions to fully participate in this global financial and technological transformation within a safer, more efficient, and transparent environment.
LTP’s strategic expansion not only reinforces its status as an industry trailblazer but also heralds a new era of institutionalization, professionalism, and compliance for Asia’s digital asset industry.
Full Interview: