Hong Kong’s crypto ETFs spring to life with record volume of $31m during selloff

Hong Kong’s crypto ETFs spring to life with record volume of $31m during selloff
Markets
Hong Kong's crypto ETFs have been off to a slow start but action is heating up. Credit: Shutterstock / Shutterstock AI Generator
  • Trading volumes indicate investors are warming to Hong Kong's six crypto ETFs.
  • The market is still tiny compared to the US.
  • There were barely any flows in July.

They may be small, but Hong Kong’s crypto exchange-traded funds just recorded a record day in trading volume.

As global markets swooned on Monday, Hong Kong’s six spot digital asset ETFs total trades in Hong Kong’s six crypto ETFs hit $30.8 million.

It was their biggest day since the funds debuted on April 30, according to data from OSL, a digital assets platform which acts as a custodian and trading partner for two of the ETF issuers.

The Bitcoin ETFs recorded a bit more than $26.1 million, while the three Ethereum funds notched $4.7 million in trades.

Despite this surge, volumes tapered off on Tuesday, underscoring the challenges Hong Kong’s ETFs face in gaining consistent traction.

Assets under management for all Hong Kong virtual asset spot ETFs total $276 million, a fraction of the volumes seen in their US counterparts.

Rollouts

The three spot Ethereum ETFs have not seen any flows since July 17, according to Coinglass. The last flow for the spot Bitcoin ETFs was an outflow of $414,000 on July 31.

Yet some companies are hoping to boost activity through rollouts to local investors. Mox, a virtual bank and subsidiary of Standard Chartered, announced this week it will offer crypto exchange-traded fund trading for its customers.

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This initiative is part of a broader strategy to expand crypto product offerings, including direct purchases and trading opportunities.

The CSOP Bitcoin Futures Daily (-1x) Inverse Product also saw record activity, with a daily volume of $230,800 on Monday, which dropped to $48,600 on Tuesday.

Launched at the end of July, it pitched the product as taking advantage of Bitcoin’s volatility.

“Bitcoin has been the most erratic among major global assets in the last ten years,” it said.

“With no intrinsic value, its price is highly volatile and speculative, influenced by market demand and supply, as well as market news and rumours.”

Callan Quinn is DL News’ Hong Kong-based correspondent. Get in touch at callan@dlnews.com.