Topline
Hong Kong has authorized its first exchange-traded funds tracking digital assets bitcoin and ether, according to statements from multiple issuers on Monday, boosting the wider market and making the city Asia’s first to offer the popular products after the U.S. launched the first spot bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.
Hong Kong has approved cryptocurrency ETFs, money managers said.
Key Facts
A number of money managers said they had secured initial approval from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to begin launching crypto ETFs, according to statements on social media platform WeChat and media reports.
In separate statements, at least three offshore Chinese asset management firms have indicated they will launch the spot ETFs soon.
These include the Hong Kong units of Harvest Fund Management and a partnership between Bosera Asset Management and Hashkey Capital, which said they had been approved to list the crypto products in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong unit of China Asset Management also said it had secured regulatory approval and is investing to develop the crypto products.
The social media announcements appear to have jumped the gun on an official announcement from the SFC, which has not issued an official statement on the approvals and did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
Some social media posts from firms announcing approvals have since been deleted, according to CoinDesk.
News Peg
Bitcoin and ether have risen around 3% and 6% over the last 24 hours, respectively, and were each trading above $66,000 and $3,250 early Monday morning. The hotly anticipated news from Hong Kong has helped buoy interest in the two tokens, and the wider crypto market, and helped spur the beginnings of a recovery following a dismal weekend. Prices for bitcoin and ether, the world’s two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, sank amid fears of wider conflict in the Middle East after Iran launched an attack on Israel, as did the broader market. The market, led by bitcoin and ether, has experienced phenomenal recovery this year after a series of crashes and high profile failures and scandals several years ago—including the implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange—pushed the market below $1 trillion. While rallies in the digital asset space can be difficult to explain—the industry is notoriously volatile and often defies the logic of traditional financial markets—this latest boom appears to be buoyed by increasing investor enthusiasm following the increasing approval of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and an impending supply crunch through the bitcoin halving, a feature baked into the mathematical foundations of the cryptocurrency that has historically boosted prices.
What To Watch For
The Securities and Exchange Commission authorized bitcoin ETFs for the first time in January, which, alongside similar approvals in other jurisdictions, has interest in the asset. Enthusiasts hope the regulator will greenlight ether-based products in the near future as well, although industry experts are reportedly skeptical over the chances of spot ether ETFs securing U.S. approval.
Big Number
$2.54 trillion. That’s how much the total cryptocurrency market is worth. The market has climbed nearly 4% over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin, with a market cap of $1.3 trillion, makes up just over half of the crypto market. Trailing bitcoin, ether is the next dominant force, comprising around 15% of the market at a total value of around $390 billion.
Further Reading
