Hong Kong may likely give the green light to Asia’s inaugural spot Bitcoin Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) within this month, with the initial approvals expected to be disclosed by experts in the field next week.
This development would make Hong Kong Asia’s first city to offer Bitcoin ETFs and is much faster than industry expectations of launches sometime this year.
Several Chinese financial institutions, such as the Hong Kong subsidiaries of Harvest Fund and China Southern Fund, have recently expressed a strong desire to participate in the Spot Bitcoin Exchange-traded funds. These institutions have applied for Bitcoin ETFs, indicating their keen interest in this investment opportunity.
According to expert sources, the SFC will announce its first approved batches of spot Bitcoin ETFs on April 15. After the subsequent approval, the new funds can now apply to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange which takes 10 days.
READ ALSO: Dr Arikana, Enabulele, Others Team Up For Ubuntu Awakening Summit
Hong Kong’s swift and forward-thinking strategy underscores its aspiration to be recognized as a prominent global financial center. This move further enhances its reputation as a welcoming environment for cryptocurrencies, especially following the issuance of a retail trading license to Hashkey, a crypto exchange, last year.
The country’s recent authorization of spot Bitcoin ETFs, making it the inaugural Asian jurisdiction to do so, provides a solid rationale for potential rollouts in other markets.
Today in Hong Kong, there has been a significant increase in demand for accessible Bitcoin investment products from both institutional and retail investors. With the implementation of a strong regulatory framework to meet this demand, Hong Kong has the potential to emerge as a prominent Bitcoin hub in Asia.
Hong Kong On Its Way To Getting Its Groove Back
Having lost much of its shine as a global financial hub due to restrictions during the pandemic, China’s faltering economy and Sino-U.S. tensions, Hong Kong authorities have been keen to do what they can to improve the city’s attractiveness for financial trading.
“The significance of Hong Kong ETFs is far-reaching as it could bring in fresh global investment as well as pushing crypto adoption to a new height,” said Adrian Wang, CEO of Metalpha, a Hong Kong-based crypto wealth manager
More Details….
The news of the proposed approval of spot Bitcoin ETF in Hong Kong follows the successful approval of spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States attracting over $12 billion in inflows.
An exchange-traded fund is a type of security that tracks the underlying performance of a collection of assets or commodities. A spot bitcoin ETF is an exchange-traded fund that tracks the spot, or current price of bitcoin.
Bitcoin Trading
Bitcoin has gained more than 60% this year and hit an all-time high of $73,803 in March. It was trading at around $69,000 on Wednesday.
At least four mainland Chinese and Hong Kong asset managers have submitted applications to launch the ETFs, the two sources said.
The Hong Kong units of China Asset Management, Harvest Fund Management, and Bosera Asset Management are among the applicants, according to two people and a third source.
The sources were not authorized to speak to the media and declined to be identified.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the three Chinese companies declined to comment.
China Asset Management and Harvest Fund Management’s Hong Kong units obtained approval this month to manage portfolios that invest more than 10% in virtual assets, according to the SFC’s website.
Their parent companies are among the biggest mutual fund firms in China, with each managing over 1 trillion yuan ($138 billion) in assets.
Although cryptocurrency trading is banned in mainland China, offshore Chinese financial institutions have been keen to participate in crypto asset development in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong approved its first ETFs for cryptocurrency futures in late 2022. The largest one – the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF – has seen its assets under management swell seven times since September to around $120 million.
Hong Kong-based Value Partners has also said it is exploring launching a spot bitcoin ETF. It has not been disclosed if it has applied.
