On their first trading day on Tuesday, the six newly established spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds in Hong Kong registered a trading volume of over HK$87.5 million, or $11.2 million.
On Tuesday, six Spot Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs debuted in Hong Kong. The assets under management (AUM) of the China Asset Management (ChinaAMC) Spot Bitcoin ETF were $121.7 million, and the Spot Ether ETF had $20.4 million.
The Hong Kong crypto ETVF is not even comparable to the enormous reception the Bitcoin Spot ETFs received in the US in January when trading volume reached $4.6 billion on the first day following the approval.
Nonetheless, the debut pales compared to the US launch of Spot Bitcoin ETFs, which attracted a much higher transaction volume. Almost $4.6 billion worth of trades were made during the January debut of Bitcoin ETFs for US investors, which is 383 times more than the roughly $12 million in transaction volume reported by Hong Kong ETFs.
After launching in the US, Bitcoin Spot ETFs met a chilly reception from Hong Kong market players when they made their Asian debut three months later.
Although cryptocurrency is illegal in China’s mainland, Hong Kong has become the region’s center for virtual assets and a safe haven for investors in exchange-traded goods.
An Ethereum spot ETF, which isn’t available in the US while the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering applications for its introduction, can be traded in the Hong Kong market.
Most observers believe that since the SEC is being more circumspect in its approach after approving the Bitcoin ETF, immediate approval is unlikely. In a tweet on X, Senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg Eric Balchunas provided specific flows for the ETFs’ debut in Hong Kong.
Also Read: Analysts Predict $1 Billion in Hong Kong Crypto ETF Assets