FX168 Financial News (Asia Pacific) News The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission (SFC)'s official website updated the list on Wednesday (April 10) and approved virtual asset asset management licenses from Harvest and Huaxia Fund. This means that China's leading public funds have “broken” into the virtual asset industry and are qualified to issue fund products related to the cryptocurrency industry. Chinese media expect the Hong Kong Bitcoin Spot ETF to be listed as soon as the end of April.
According to the official website of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, there are currently 18 funds in Hong Kong that can carry out “coin circle” asset management. However, Harvest International and Huaxia Metals were the first batch of public funds in Hong Kong to enter the “coin circle” list and are eligible to issue “coin circle” fund products to the public, such as Bitcoin spot ETFs, etc., and retail investors can purchase related products through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Tencent Finance's “Frontline” learned on January 26 this year that Harvest International was the first fund to submit a Bitcoin spot ETF in Hong Kong.
We have learned exclusively from various sources that the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission urgently updated the list of virtual asset management funds in the early morning of April 10 because it plans to announce the list of Hong Kong's first batch of Bitcoin spot ETFs in time for April 15.
The report learned from various sources that the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission originally planned to approve a total of 4 Bitcoin spot ETFs in the first batch. In addition to Harvest International, there are also Huaxia Fund, Bosch Fund, and Value Partners.
However, at present, Bosch Fund and Value Partners have not yet appeared on the list of virtual asset management funds updated by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission in the early morning of April 10.
Chinese media pointed out that the two funds themselves do not have a Hong Kong Licensed Responsible Person (RO) for independent asset management in the cryptocurrency industry. According to data from the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, Hashkey Capital and VSFG are already qualified asset management agencies in the cryptocurrency industry.
According to reports, some Bitcoin spot ETF applicants, including Huaxia Fund, temporarily set up teams about a month ago and only submitted applications in the second week of March. Huaxia Fund, on the other hand, is “super fast” and was approved by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission in two weeks. According to the news, Huaxia Fund once obtained RO from a very small Bitcoin futures agency.
The solutions required for a Bitcoin spot ETF were submitted in Hong Kong, involving at least 20 partner institutions, including Bitcoin custodian banks and market makers, and institutions holding integrated virtual asset trading accounts. If the Hong Kong application process and regular communication channels are strictly followed, it is unlikely that any agency in Hong Kong will be able to complete all application materials in about half a month.
According to the Hong Kong process, after the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission approved the first batch of Bitcoin spot ETFs on April 15, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange needed about 2 weeks to prepare for product listing, etc., but the entire Bitcoin spot ETF project had detailed communication and plans with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in advance, and it is expected to be completed in about 10 days.
The report said that the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission originally planned to list a Bitcoin spot ETF in Hong Kong around April 25, no later than the end of April.
This is something to look forward to for ordinary investors. That is, they can make Bitcoin-linked investments by subscribing to this type of ETF, which is equivalent to opening up a channel for retail investors to invest in the cryptocurrency industry.
Some interested institutional investors in Hong Kong have analyzed the Chinese media. Currently, Bitcoin is on the rise. With the Hong Kong stock market not active, Bitcoin spot ETFs are assets that many traditional institutional investors want to allocate. However, compared to the US, Hong Kong's Bitcoin spot ETF is probably about 10% of the US size, that is, it is expected that Harvest International's Bitcoin spot ETF may reach a scale of about 2 billion US dollars.
According to information, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has been catching up and speeding up since the US approved this type of ETF.
Compared to Bitcoin spot ETFs in the US, Bitcoin spot ETFs in Hong Kong have added Bitcoin spot subscriptions, that is, investors can subscribe to this type of ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with fiat money, or they can subscribe for Bitcoin spot through a compliant coin exchange.
It is worth noting that this mainly affected the delay in listing the Hong Kong Bitcoin Spot ETF.
According to public information, there are currently only two licensed virtual asset exchanges, Hashkey and OSL, in Hong Kong. This means that if investors want to subscribe to this type of ETF with Bitcoin spot, they can only go through the two exchanges mentioned above; there are no other options.
The article mentioned that on January 26, Harvest International was the first agency to submit a Bitcoin spot ETF application in Hong Kong. At the time, these two local compliant cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong didn't understand the relevant processes, or even internal ETF technology and procedures. To a certain extent, this has also delayed the progress of the entire project.
The report concluded: “More importantly, although these two exchanges have not fully disclosed their specific local user data, some investors said that compared to platforms such as Coinbase or Binance (Binance) in the US, the two existing exchanges in Hong Kong do not have the same level of users at all. However, as leading exchanges in the cryptocurrency industry, Coinbase and Binance have so far temporarily abandoned their plans to submit applications in Hong Kong.”
Editor/Somer