Hong Kong is moving forward by launching its first two exchange-traded funds for cryptocurrency futures. The country aims to rival Singapore to become the new digital asset hub in Asia.
CSOP Asset Management Company’s Bitcoin Futures ETF and Ether Futures ETF were officially listed on December 16, 2022, enabling investors to access Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which would open doorways to mass adoption and business growth in HK.
In fact, before the launch of ETFs Financial Services and the Treasury bureau announced effective policies about virtual assets to promote this industry in the country.
The two ETFs first raised an initial investment of $79M. The successful launch amidst the bear market has been quite challenging, says Carlton Lai from Daiwa Capital Markets, FT reports. He believes the overall trust in digital assets after the FTX collapse has declined drastically.
According to Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands, Asia is moving forward from the FTX collapse and is pioneering Web3 gaming and metaverse adoption. The Hong Kong government has been actively involved in bringing Web3 services to its citizens.
Compared to the US, Asia has developed a proper regulatory framework. Recently, Japan Prime Minister Kishida also shared that his government will make efforts to promote NFTs and DeFi to the public.