The Hong Kong branch of Harvest Fund Management, a major Chinese asset manager, reportedly submitted an application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to local financial regulators last Friday. get ready The first batch of spot cryptocurrency ETFs will be launched soon.
tencent news reported Today, Harvest submitted its spot Bitcoin ETF application to the Securities and Futures Commission, hoping to launch the city’s first ETF after the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls on February 10 this year.
Harvest and SFC did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.
Earlier this month, Livio Weng, COO of Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange HashKey, said: 10 fund companies The city has begun investigating a potential spot crypto ETF launch.
Hong Kong-based Venture Smart Financial Holdings Ltd. (VSFG) said it aims to: Spot Bitcoin ETF launched According to the first quarter bloomberg.
Growing interest in stablecoins
Meanwhile, Hong Kong is strengthening its efforts to Pushing for stablecoin rulesSeveral companies have shown interest in stablecoin-related trials, including Harvest Global Investments, RD Technologies and VSFG, Bloomberg reported today.
The companies are in discussions with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the de facto central bank, about potential stablecoin trials, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sean Lee, senior advisor and head of stablecoins at VSFG, told The Block that the company expects the stablecoin sandbox process to begin in the first quarter and continue through the first half of 2024.
“VSFG is committed to supporting Hong Kong as an international virtual asset center, and our dedicated department, IDA, will apply for sandbox inclusion with our consortium partners to demonstrate the potential of programmable digital currencies while meeting prudential requirements. .” Lee said.
An HKMA spokesperson told The Block that the sandbox agreement is for issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins (FRS) “who have a genuine interest and reasonable plans to issue FRS in Hong Kong.”
“HKMA is preparing to launch the sandbox and will announce relevant details in due course,” the spokesperson added.
Harvest and RD Technologies have not yet responded to inquiries from The Block.
Last December, the HKMA jointly said: consultation documents with The Department of Financial Services and Treasury said stablecoin issuers must obtain a license from the authority “if they issue stablecoins referencing the value of one or more fiat currencies in Hong Kong.”
HKMA CEO Eddie Yue said at the time that stablecoins “could become an interface between traditional finance and virtual asset markets.”
“In a scenario where stablecoins become one of the preferred payment options for the general public, we should reasonably expect further integration between the digital payments ecosystem and the real economy, and whether stablecoins are in fact ‘stable’ will become even more important. It will. “Yue said in December. name.
Update: Added comments from HKMA and VSFG
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