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Hong Kong regulators on Monday approved the launch of bitcoin and ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), asset managers said, following moves by the United States this year to market these products.
Bitcoin was trading up about 3% as of 7:11 a.m. ET after a sharp sell-off over the weekend.
Three ETF providers have been approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
ChinaAMC said it had received regulatory approval for the provision of “virtual asset management services” and was “actively deploying resources in the development” of a Bitcoin and Ether spot ETF. OSL Digital Securities will be the custodian of ChinaAMC.
According to the companies, Harvest Global and Bosera International have also received SFC approval for Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.
The Hong Kong SFC was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
While these asset managers have received the green light for ETFs, they have not yet launched them.
Cryptocurrency trading is effectively banned in mainland China after a massive crackdown on the sector in 2021.
However, Hong Kong has slowly attempted to become a regulated crypto hub to rival places like Dubai and Singapore. It is unclear whether investors from mainland China will be allowed to invest in cryptocurrencies through ETFs.
Hong Kong’s moves come after U.S. securities regulators approved trading in Bitcoin spot ETFs, which saw inflows of billions of dollars.
A Bitcoin ETF allows an investor to be exposed to changes in the price of the asset without having to own the underlying cryptocurrency. Many commentators have said that ETFs will allow more traditional investors to enter the crypto market.
Hong Kong would be one of the first places in the world to approve an ether ETF. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve such a product, and asset managers told CNBC last week that they don’t expect the regulator to do so.
– Yolande Chee of CNBC contributed to this report.
