Hong Kong officially debuts Asia's first spot bitcoin, ether ETFs

Six spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds officially debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today — the listing of Asia’s first spot crypto ETFs — as the region continues its drive to become a crypto hub.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd., or HKEX, today listed six such ETFs, namely: Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF (3008.HK), Bosera HashKey Ether ETF (3009.HK), ChinaAMC Bitcoin ETF (3042.HK), ChinaAMC Ether ETF (3046.HK), Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF (3439.HK) and Harvest Ether Spot ETF (3179.HK).

Earlier this month, Hong Kong approved several spot bitcoin ETFs and spot ether ETFs managed by China Asset Management, Harvest Global, Bosera and HashKey.

“Following the success of VA Futures ETFs, the listing of Asia’s first spot VA ETFs will further enhance the product diversity and liquidity of the Hong Kong ETP market,” Brian Roberts, head of equities product development of HKEX, said in a statement.

In addition to investors in Hong Kong, the spot crypto ETFs are available for qualified investors outside of the city, but those in the Chinese mainland are still restricted from investing in the products.

One key feature that sets the Hong Kong spot crypto products apart from their U.S. counterparts is their in-kind feature. “Investors can purchase the ETFs with Bitcoin or Ethereum and subsequently sell them for cash, or vice versa, enabling seamless two-way investment flexibility,” HashKey said today in a statement.

“This now caters to a different group of people,” Rebecca Sin, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, said last week. “Everyone that’s holding bitcoin and ether can potentially now swap this into an ETF.”

Hong Kong previously listed three futures-based crypto ETFs — Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF, CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF and CSOP Ether Futures ETF. “Investor interest in virtual asset ETFs has grown since VA Futures ETFs were first launched in late 2022,” HKEX said today in the statement.

In the first quarter of this year, the combined average daily turnover for the three crypto futures ETFs amounted to HK$51.3 million (about $6.5 million), up from HK$8.9 million a year earlier, according to HKEX. Also, during the first quarter, the three crypto futures ETFs brought in HK$529 million in net inflows.

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