In the summer of 2026, Hong Kong's stock exchange drew a careful line through the expanding terrain of digital assets: companies may engage with cryptocurrency, but they may not be defined by it. HKEX's guidance letter clarifies that a business built solely around holding digital assets is, in the exchange's view, an investment vehicle wearing an operating company's clothes — and therefore unsuitable for listing. The rules reflect a broader human tension between embracing financial innovation and preserving the integrity of markets built on the premise that listed companies do something real i