Hong Kong grants approval for first Bitcoin ETFs
Hong Kong's Bitcoin ETFs will launch through an in-kind model that enables new ETF shares to be issued directly with BTC
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On April 15, Hong Kong’s Securities and Future Commission (SFC) approved three spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from Harvest Global Investments, China Asset Management, and a partnership between Hashkey and Bosera Asset Management. The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong is now finalising listing procedures and related arrangements, a step expected to take approximately two weeks.
Based on the situation yesterday (April 15), Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, expressed scepticism about the potential inflows of these ETFs. He tweeted on X (formerly Twitter) that they may attract less investment than some anticipate.
Balchunas said, "Don't expect a lot of flows. (I saw one estimate of $25 billion, that's insane). We think they'll be lucky to get $500 million."
He explains his predictions by stating that the Hong Kong ETF market is "tiny" compared to countries like the United States. Balchunas also noted that the three prospective ETF issuers in Hong Kong are significantly smaller than major asset management giants like BlackRock.
In a follow-up post on X, Balchunas tweeted, "U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have more assets than the entire HK ETF market.â€
