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Samsung Asset Management is planning to launch a Bitcoin futures ETF on the Hong Kong stock market as the region ramps up its crypto hub ambitions.
Named the Samsung Bitcoin Active ETF, the product will track Bitcoin's spot price by investing in Bitcoin futures listesd on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The ETF will primarily invest in the CME Bitcoin Futures.
Hong Kong is reporetdly the only region in Asia where Bitcoin futures ETFs are permitted to be traded.
Park Seong-jin, head of Samsung Asset Management Hong Kong, praised the city for its stance, stating “Hong Kong is the only market in Asia where bitcoin futures ETFs are listed and traded in the institutional market."
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"It will be a new option for investors who are interested in Bitcoin as a competitive product that reflects their experience in risk management.”
Other Bitcoin futures ETF markets include Canada, the US, Australia and other European countries.
The move comes as Hong Kong strives to become a crypto hub in the region, rivalling Singapore for the title.
Speaking at the Asia Financial Forum in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Julia Leung, the newly appointed CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), said that only assets with "deep liquidity" will be made available to retail investors.
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“Some virtual assets platforms have over 2,000 products, but we do not plan to allow retail investors to trade in all of them. We will set the criteria that would allow retail investors to [only] trade in major virtual assets," Leung said.
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan also confirmed this week at the Hong Kong Web3 Innovator Summit that authorities have completed the legislative work required to set up a licensing scheme for digital asset service providers.
