The week started on a strong note, with Bitcoin rising 3.02% from the previous day to over $66,000 due to developments in Hong Kong ETFs.
With crypto spot ETFs all the rage, Hong Kong joined the trend on Monday by approving several Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs.
Hong Kong welcomes spot Bitcoin, Ethereum ETFs
This latest move reflects the city-state's continued efforts to establish itself as the region's leading cryptocurrency hub.
Prominent asset management company China Asset Management has announced that its Hong Kong unit has been given the go-ahead by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to provide retail wealth management services related to Spot Cryptocurrency ETFs. The next step will be to launch a Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF 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 firm launched these ETFs in collaboration with OSL to address concerns such as excessively high margin requirements.
Hong Kong regulators also approved Vocera Asset Management and Hashkey Capital, the Hong Kong-based arm of a major Chinese asset manager, to jointly manage two spot crypto ETFs.
The SFC’s approval comes less than a week before the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving event, adding further optimism to the crypto market.
Hong Kong’s crypto ambitions
Hong Kong has been competing fiercely with Singapore and Dubai to establish itself as a central hub for crypto 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, last year there was a setback at an unlicensed virtual currency exchange called JPEX, resulting in a fraud case of about HK$1.6 billion (equivalent to about $200 million). Nevertheless, authorities continue efforts to attract crypto entrepreneurs.
Cryptocurrency market recovers
The weekend was particularly tough not only for the price of Bitcoin, but also for the cryptocurrency market as a whole. However, the news that Hong Kong approved spot BTC and ETH ETFs coincided with an industry-wide recovery rally.
Over the past 24 hours, BTC is up 3.1% and ETH is up about 6%.
Other altcoins are also in green status. Solana is up 7.4%. This may also have something to do with the fact that the team behind it has just rolled out an update to address network congestion.
