Venture Smart Financial Holdings Limited (VSFG), a Hong Kong-based financial services firm, plans to launch its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the first quarter of this year, according to Bloomberg.
Hong Kong's VSFG Plans to Launch Spot Bitcoin ETF in Q1
The company has set a target of $500 million in assets under management by the end of the year.
VSFG, which claims to be Hong Kong's first approved virtual asset manager, has yet to apply for an ETF with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the city's financial regulator.
In December, the SFC announced that the city was ready to accept applications for spot crypto ETFs and issued two circulars addressing the requirements for the launch of such products.
The region introduced the crypto licensing regime for crypto trading platforms in June 2023, aiming to regain its position as Asia's crypto hub.
Three crypto futures ETFs are currently listed in Hong Kong: Samsung Bitcoin Futures, CSOP Bitcoin Futures and CSOP Ether Futures.
Livio Weng, Chief Operating Officer of Hong Kong crypto exchange HashKey, noted earlier this month that around ten fund companies in the region have begun exploring the option of launching spot crypto ETFs.
Following approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on January 10, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen total trading volume of over $13 billion so far.
However, as the enthusiasm surrounding the approval faded, Bitcoin price fell and was trading around $41,400 at the time of writing.
*This is not investment advice.