By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 31 January 2024
In early 2024, Harvest Fund Management, a major Chinese asset manager, submitted the first application for a spot bitcoin ETF to Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, which had said it was ready for such applications. According to Bloomberg, a local firm was planning to launch funds in the first quarter of 2024, and a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange could follow within months. Venture Smart Financial Holdings was also planning a fund investing directly in bitcoin.
The applications followed the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in the US in January 2024. The article explains that, under the “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong maintained its own legal and financial system, allowing a different approach from mainland China. China barred banks from handling bitcoin transactions in 2013 and banned bitcoin exchanges and initial coin offerings in 2017, leading many bitcoin businesses to move abroad.