Hong Kong’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have gained $230 million in assets under management (AUM) within their first week of operation. Data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange reveals that the $273 million AUM of virtual asset spot ETFs, which include Bitcoin and Ethereum, surpasses the $152 million AUM of virtual asset futures ETFs by almost 80%. Among the best performing ETFs post-launch are China Asset Management Co. (China AMC)’s offerings, with $116 million secured for Bitcoin and $19 million for Ethereum. Bosera International and HashKey Capital’s Bitcoin ETF reached $57 million AUM, with $11.6 million for Ethereum ETF. Harvest Global Investment’s Bitcoin ETF obtained approximately $57 million under management, while its Ethereum ETF secured $11.5 million. Combined, the three spot Bitcoin ETFs reached $230 million AUM, while the three Ethereum ETFs reached around $43 million. Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, a subsidiary of Kraken, predicts that despite a slow start, crypto ETFs in Hong Kong will surpass $1 billion in AUM by the end of 2024. BitGo’s Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific region, Hobeng “HB” Lim, commented on the Hong Kong ETFs, stating that some investors may prefer these offerings due to more favorable taxes or fewer restrictions compared to similar products in North America or Europe. While Hong Kong has established a comprehensive and robust regulatory framework for virtual assets, Lim suggests the need for a regulatory framework for independent virtual asset custodians to offer additional custody options, as well as adjustments to Hong Kong’s proposed regulations for over-the-counter (OTC) trading of virtual assets.
