Today multiple Hong Kong firms reported receiving conditional approval for at least three sets of exchange traded funds (ETFs) for spot Bitcoin and spot ETH. So far the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has not confirmed the news. Some of the social media announcements have been removed.
One of the posts that remains on the record is China Asset Management (China AMC), which issued a brief statement that it had received authorization to provide virtual asset management services. It mentioned it planned to issue Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs but didn’t say the products were approved. China AMC said it was partnering with OSL Digital Securities, which also operates a Hong Kong-regulated crypto exchange, and BOC International as custodian. Its partner OSL published an announcement that expressly stated the ETFs had in principle approval.
Harvest Global Investments said it received in principle approval, according to a post by @WuBlockchain. However, the Harvest Global WeChat social media post was deleted.
Last week, the other Hong Kong-regulated crypto exchange HashKey confirmed the group received an expanded authorization from the SFC, allowing it to provide fund products to retail investors. It also announced a strategic partnership with Bosera Asset Management, saying they would jointly research ETFs. They have apparently received in principle approval for two ETFs, but their WeChat post was deleted.
The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States resulted in a major runup in the Bitcoin price. BlackRock’s ITBIT has around $18 billion in assets under management after just over three months.
