First Hong Kong bitcoin, ether ETFs lure nearly $75 million with trading set to begin Friday
Quick Take
- CSOP asset management’s bitcoin and ether ETFs will begin trading on Friday.
- The two funds attracted over $74 million in investment, with most going into the bitcoin fund.
CSOP Asset Management, a China Southern Asset Management subsidiary, will list the first bitcoin and ether ETFs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday.
CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF and CSOP Ether Futures ETF will track CME's bitcoin and ether futures, the company said. The CSOP bitcoin and ether ETFs have received more than $74 million in initial investments — $54 million and $20 million, respectively — shaking off the slump in cryptocurrency prices and the fallout from high-profile collapses of FTX and others.
The approval of the ETFs is an "important milestone" for digital assets in Asia, said Tim McCourt, global head of equity and FX products at CME.
"The listing of these ETFs underscores the robust growth and increasing client demand for exposure to bitcoin and ether via CME Group's transparent, highly regulated, and deeply liquid benchmark futures contracts," he said, adding that both have seen a combined increase of 20% in average daily volume this year versus 2021.
While these funds have attracted significant investment, crypto-focused ETFs have come under renewed scrutiny of late. Last month, Cosmos Asset Management announced it was delisting three ETFs and revoking a request for a third.
Last week, VanEck CEO Jan van Eck said the underlying constituents of his firm's Digital Asset Mining ETF had shrunk in market cap, prompting the firm to review the fund. Van Eck noted that the firm is usually slow to close a fund.
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