A multinational asset management giant has reportedly submitted the first application for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Hong Kong.
Harvest Fund Management applied to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong, according to a recent report from the Chinese media outlet Tencent News.
Tencent also reports that the regulator hopes to speed up the approval process and have the ETF listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the next couple of months.
The SFC published spot crypto ETF requirements in December.
According to the report, the SFC is inclined to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and approve multiple Bitcoin ETFs at once. However, the Hong Kong regulator has yet to receive applications for a BTC ETF from other institutions.
The movement in Hong Kong has materialized after the recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US.
On January 10th, the SEC greenlit all 11 spot BTC ETFs that were under consideration. Applicants worked with the regulator for months to refine their proposals.
The SEC approved the launch of the country’s first Bitcoin futures ETFs in October 2021 but had denied all previous spot Bitcoin ETF applications until the set of approvals earlier this month.
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https://cryptonews.com.au/news/hong-kong-regulator-receives-first-application-for-bitcoin-exchange-traded-fund-etf-report-117090/