Hong Kong Greenlights Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs as Crypto Market Bounces

The week started on a strong note, with Bitcoin rising above $66,000, a 3.02% increase over the past day owing to Hong Kong’s ETF development.

With spot cryptocurrency ETFs being all the roar, Hong Kong has joined the trend by granting approval for several spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on Monday.

Hong Kong Welcomes Spot Bitcoin, Ethereum ETFs

The latest move reflects the city-state’s ongoing efforts to establish itself as a leading crypto hub in the region.

China Asset Management, a prominent asset manager, announced that its Hong Kong division has been given the green light by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to offer retail asset management services linked to spot crypto ETFs. The next step will be to launch spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in partnership with OSL and BOCI International.

Harvest Global Investments also revealed that its two spot crypto ETFs have received initial approval from the SFC. The company has roped in OSL to launch these ETFs to address concerns such as excessively high margin requirements.

The Hong Kong regulator has also approved Bosera Asset Management, a Hong Kong-based unit of a major Chinese asset manager, and HashKey Capital to manage two spot crypto ETFs jointly.

The SFC’s approval comes less than a week before the highly anticipated Bitcoin halving event, sparking further optimism in the cryptocurrency market.

Hong Kong’s Crypto Ambitions

Hong Kong has been fiercely competing with Singapore and Dubai to position itself as a central hub for cryptocurrency companies. The city-state introduced a regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers in June 2023 and has since granted approval to platforms operated by HashKey Group and OSL Digital Securities.

However, a setback came in the form of JPEX last year, which was an unlicensed crypto exchange that triggered almost HK$1.6 billion (worth around $200 million) fraud. Despite this, authorities have continued their efforts to attract crypto entrepreneurs.

The Crypto Market Recovers

The weekend was particularly brutal for Bitcoin’s price, as well as the overall cryptocurrency market. However, the news of Hong Kong approving spot BTC and ETH ETFs has coincided with a recovery rally throughout the entire industry.

BTC increased by 3.1% in the past 24 hours, while ETH is up by almost 6%.

Other altcoins are also in the green. Solana is up by 7.4%, which may also have to do with the fact that the team behind it just rolled out an update to tackle network congestion.