Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) reportedly received its first spot Bitcoin ETF application on January 26, 2024, marking a significant development in the region’s financial landscape.
The application, submitted by prominent asset manager Harvest Fund, aims for a public listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by the end of February 2024, according to an exclusive report by local media, Tencent News.
According to the report, the SFC began to ramp up its efforts to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs for public listing two weeks ago. As a result, there are expectations that the Hong Kong regulator may approve multiple applications at the same time. Although Harvest Fund was the first to seek approval, other institutions have signalled their intent to follow suit.
Harvest Fund is a prominent Chinese financial asset manager with over $207 billion in assets under its management. The fund, according to its website, is positioning itself to capitalize on the “Golden Age of asset management in China” by employing sustainable investment strategies rooted in ESG principles, big-data technology, and extensive research.
The report also noted considerable interest from native institutional investors in spot ETFs, even though there might be potential disparities in investment scales compared to their U.S. counterparts.
It is expected that these potential Bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong will offer direct Bitcoin subscriptions alongside legal currency subscriptions, whereas their U.S. counterparts only offer the latter. This will broaden investment opportunities for stakeholders.
If approved, the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs further solidifies the Hong Kong government’s commitment to nurturing crypto adoption within the jurisdiction.
Hong Kong became a major hub for cryptocurrency, thanks in part to the robust regulatory framework the SFC introduced in 2023. Since then, multiple local and foreign institutions have applied for and received licenses to operate crypto trading platforms on the island.
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