The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has today granted China Asset Management (CAM), among others, approval to launch spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  

In a short statement, CAM says they have been given permission to “provide virtual asset management services to investors” and that they now plan “to issue ETF products that can invest in spot Bitcoin and spot Ethereum.”

OSL Digital Securities will partner with both CAM and Harvest Global, it said in its own announcement:

“OSL utilizes its well-established infrastructure to ensure a safe trading environment crucial for the ETFs operations, meticulously managing the underlying assets. As the sub-custodian, OSL provides exemplary security and meets regulatory standards, delivering premier custody services that maintain the integrity and safety of the assets managed.”

Harvest Global and a partnership between Bosera Capital and Hashkey Capital have also received in-principle approval from the SFC, the firms said in separate statements today. 

The news comes ahead of an official press release from the SFC, which is expected soon. Curiously, some of the announcements on the Chinese social media site WeChat (Weixin), have been deleted, prompting speculation the statements, while almost certainly true, were premature.

This pivotal moment for cryptocurrency will make Hong Kong Asia’s first city to offer ETFs, throwing it into the arena with countries like Singapore and Dubai as a new major hub for virtual-asset service providers.

While this is great news for Hong Kong investors, Mainland China still has a complete crypto ban in place across the region. Access for China’s residents to Hong Kong-listed Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs looks unlikely, and despite some false reports, there is no sign of this changing anytime soon.

Three months ago, the U.S. launched the first U.S.-listed ETFs to track spot Bitcoin. The U.S. showed great results, drawing roughly $12 billion in net inflows.

According to an analysis by Coingecko, Spot Ethereum ETFs are incorporated in 10 countries and traded in five markets, with Europe and Canada the market leaders. Europe has 10 spot Ethereum ETFs and three Ethereum futures ETFs, with a combined $4.65 billion asset size or 81.45% global market share. Canada has six spot Ethereum ETFs with $949.25 million in combined assets, representing 16.64% of the global market share. 

Ethereum and Bitcoin both bounced following the news today. As the scheduled Bitcoin halving looms, we will continue to observe and update you as more news surely follows.

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