Hong Kong’s three crypto futures exchange-traded funds hit new price highs as bitcoin climbed above $52,000 on Thursday.
The CSOP Bitcoin 
BTC
-2.21%
Futures ETF — the first bitcoin futures ETF in Hong Kong — closed up 3.56% on Thursday at HK$20.92 ($2.67), marking an all-time high since its launch in December 2022. The Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF rose by 3.67% to HK$20.32 at the close on Thursday, and the CSOP Ether Futures ETF closed up 4.56% at HK$15.81, both hitting all-time highs. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index ended 0.41% higher.
The ETF movements came as the price of bitcoin rose to around $52,800 on Thursday, according to The Block Price Page. Bitcoin was trading at around $52,100 at 2:15 p.m. Hong Kong time on Friday.
Meanwhile, some blockchain- and crypto-related stocks climbed on Thursday in Hong Kong. Sinohope Technology Holdings Ltd., formerly Huobi Technology or New Huo Technology, saw its stock surge by 26% on Thursday. The stock of crypto trading platform OSL closed 12.6% higher on Thursday.
Spot crypto ETF rush
Several Hong Kong companies have announced plans to file spot crypto ETF applications this year after the regional regulators said they were prepared to accept such applications.
Earlier this month, financial services firm Venture Smart Financial Holdings said that it aims to debut its spot bitcoin ETF in Q1 and a spot ether ETF in the second quarter. The Hong Kong arm of major Chinese asset manager Harvest Fund reportedly submitted an application for a spot bitcoin ETF in January.
Last month, Livio Weng, chief executive officer of HashKey Exchange, said that around ten fund companies, including those with Chinese capital backing, have started looking into launching potential spot crypto ETFs in the city.
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About Author
Danny Park is an East Asia reporter at The Block writing on topics including Web3 developments and crypto regulations in the region. He was formerly a reporter at Forkast.News, where he actively covered the downfall of Terra-Luna and FTX. Based in Seoul, Danny has previously produced written and video content for media companies in Korea, Hong Kong and China. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism and Business Marketing from the University of Hong Kong.