Investment funds start up in Hong Kong

Hong Kong on Tuesday launched six spot trading funds for bitcoin and ethereum - becoming the first in Asia to offer retail investors the ability to trade cryptocurrencies at spot prices.

Cryptocurrency ETFs were issued by 3 Chinese companies – China Asset Management, Bosera Asset Management, and Harvest Global Investments – on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) approved the three ETF providers two weeks ago.

Spot bitcoin ETFs from ChinaAMC, Bosera HashKey and Harvest rose more than 3% in early trading, but then gave up some gains to trade about 1.5% higher. The three ether ETFs traded above 1% in the morning, but fell into negative territory by late afternoon.

Bitcoin was trading at $63,218 at 3:50 a.m. ET, while Ether was trading at $3,159, according to Coin Metrics data seen by Al Arabiya Business.

Hong Kong is one of the first countries in the world to approve Ether ETFs. In January, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved changes to allow the creation of bitcoin ETFs in the US, but it has not yet approved an ether ETF.

Crypto ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to the price movement of the underlying asset without having to own the asset directly. The move is seen as positive for Hong Kong markets.