Hong Kong’s New Bitcoin and Ether ETFs See Modest Debut Trading Volume Compared to US Counterparts

Hong Kong’s New Bitcoin and Ether ETFs See Modest Debut Trading Volume Compared to US Counterparts

On Tuesday, the six new spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Hong Kong saw a trading volume exceeding HK$87.5 million ($11.2 million) on their inaugural trading day. However, this figure falls significantly short of the $4.6 billion in first-day volume observed for the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States back in January.

China Asset Management (ChinaAMC) reported that its spot Bitcoin ETF accumulated $121.7 million in assets under management (AUM) by the end of the first trading day, while its spot Ether ETF held $20.4 million in AUM.

These six spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, managed by China Asset Management, Harvest Global, Bosera, and HashKey, officially launched in Hong Kong. Among them, the ChinaAMC Bitcoin ETF led in trading volume, reaching HK$37.16 million on the first day and closing with a 1.53% gain. Its spot Ether ETF saw a volume of HK$12.66 million.

Harvest’s spot Bitcoin ETF recorded a volume of HK$17.89 million, with its Ether ETF seeing HK$4.95 million in volume. Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF saw a volume of HK$12.44 million, while its Ether ETF recorded HK$2.48 million in volume on the debut trading day, according to data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Comparing these figures to the U.S. market where 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs debuted in January with a first-day volume of approximately $4.6 billion, Justin d’Anethan, head of APAC business development at crypto market maker Keyrock, noted that while the Hong Kong ETFs may not match the U.S. debut, they are a success given the different market dynamics.

Despite not offering access to mainland China investors, Hong Kong’s ETFs received notable interest, which is a positive sign, according to d’Anethan. Additionally, he highlighted that Hong Kong’s spot Ether ETFs currently do not provide staking rewards, which could be seen as a missed opportunity, especially considering the potential 4% APR gain.

Livio Weng, chief executive of HashKey Exchange, emphasized the need for fund issuers to engage in discussions with regulators to introduce staking reward mechanisms cautiously, as such activities may carry inherent risks.