First Spot Bitcoin ETF Application Lands on Hong Kong SFC's Desk

Hong Kong's financial watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), is getting ready to review its first application for a spot Bitcoin ETF.

This comes after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light to the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States.

A big investment company in China called Harvest Hong Kong has applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the SFC on January 26.

The SFC is trying to speed up the approval process so that the first Hong Kong spot Bitcoin ETF can launch soon after the Chinese New Year celebrations on February 10, according to Cointelegraph.

Just like in the U.S., Hong Kong might approve more than one spot ETF to make sure the market is fair for everyone. Besides Harvest Fund, other financial companies in the region are also interested in launching spot Bitcoin ETFs in 2024.

About ten big financial players in Hong Kong are said to be working on this already. One of them, Venture Smart Financial Holdings, is aiming to launch its spot ETF in the first few months of 2024.

Some established crypto companies in Hong Kong are also considering jumping into the spot ETF game. For example, Samsung Asset Management, known for launching the Samsung Bitcoin Futures ETF in 2023, is thinking about it.

It is worth noting that even before the SEC approved the first spot Bitcoin ETF, the SFC had said it was open to considering different kinds of funds, including ones focused on digital assets like Bitcoin.