Market regulators in Hong Kong are preparing to approve spot %Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF) within the next week, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.
Bitcoin ETFs are likely to begin trading on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index within days as regulators get set to greenlight the %Cryptocurrency investment vehicles.
According to the Reuters report, regulators in Australia are likely to follow Hong Kong’s lead and also approve spot Bitcoin ETFs in April of this year.
Until now, Hong Kong’s markets authority had been cagey about whether it would approve spot Bitcoin ETFs after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did so in January.
But in recent weeks, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has sped up the approval process of the crypto ETFs as they try and bolster the market in Hong Kong.
Authorities in Hong Kong, which is a special economic zone of China, have said previously that they want the city to become a global cryptocurrency hub.
To date, four investment firms have submitted applications to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong. Three of them – China Asset Management, Harvest Fund Management and Bosera Asset Management – are likely to be approved to do so in coming days.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have proven extremely popular in the U.S., attracting more than $10 billion U.S. of investor capital since their launch a few months ago.
The SEC in America is now weighing whether to approve spot %Ethereum (CRYPTO: $ETH) ETFs for the U.S. market, with a decision expected by the end of June.