Asia's First: Hong Kong May Approve First Spot Bitcoin ETFs Next Week

Hong Kong is expected to approve the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) next week, a new report revealed. If the said timeline is achieved, Hong Kong will be Asia's first city to launch ETFs.

The first approvals will "likely" be announced next week, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. One of the people said regulators in the Chinese special administrative region have been expediting the approval process. Before the said report, the industry expected Hong Kong to launch spot BTC ETFs sometime this year.

So far, at least four Hong Kong and mainland China asset managers filed to issue spot Bitcoin ETFs, as per the report. Among the applicants are Hong Kong subsidiaries of Harvest Fund Management, Bosera Asset Management, and China Asset Management, three of the country's leading fund management firms, the people and a third source told the outlet.

Trading cryptocurrencies is banned in China, but offshore Chinese financial firms have expressed interest in participating in Hong Kong's bid to become a crypto asset hub.

The crypto community on X (formerly Twitter) has since celebrated the news, even as Hong Kong regulators have yet to officially confirm the report. One user said that if the reports are true, "this could be a big step for Bitcoin adoption in Asia."

One user said the development "could be a game-changer" in the crypto market, while another noted that it appears to be a "strategic pivot" that could pave the way for crypto investments and actual regulatory movement in the region.

Hong Kong's bid to revive interest in the city as a leading financial investment hub comes amid growing global attention on spot BTC ETFs. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to approve Bitcoin ETFs was much celebrated by the crypto community and propelled Bitcoin prices to an impressive rally in the first quarter of the year.

Bitcoin achieved a new all-time high last month when it broke past $73,000 as bulls hailed the milestone. For some industry experts, the U.S. SEC's move had a ripple effect on other countries, particularly in Asia, where crypto adoption is not as widespread as that in the U.S. and other European nations.

Bitcoin Foundation chair Brock Pierce previously told International Business Times that Washington "often leads the world, and the world looks to America for leadership." Following the historic approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., Pierce believes "we'll likely see similar actions all around the world."

In the case of Hong Kong, it is leading Asia in what could be a fintech revolution that will spur the region towards wider participation in the trillion-dollar crypto industry.