Animoca Brands Chairman Yat Siu stated in an interview yesterday that Hong Kong’s Ethereum spot ETF issuers are currently working hard to incorporate staking functionality into the Ethereum spot ETF. The approval probability is very high. Can this change the sluggish situation in the Hong Kong ETF market?
Following the approval of multiple Bitcoin spot ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in early January this year, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong also approved the applications of Bosera, Huaxia, and CSOP for a total of 6 Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs in mid-April.
However, compared to the U.S., the performance of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs in Hong Kong has not been impressive since they were listed, with a trading volume of only HK$87.58 million on the first day, less than 1% of the US Bitcoin spot ETF’s trading volume of $4.6 billion on the listing day. In addition, the SEC has already approved the preliminary application for an Ethereum spot ETF last month, further lowering expectations for the Hong Kong cryptocurrency ETF market.
Yat Siu: Hong Kong is expected to launch the staking function of the Ethereum spot ETF this year
However, just yesterday, Yat Siu, Chairman of the Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming giant Animoca Brands, stated that Ethereum spot ETF issuers in Hong Kong are currently working hard to incorporate staking functionality into the Ethereum spot ETF and are expected to obtain approval from the authorities this year.
Furthermore, Livio Weng, CEO of the licensed exchange HashKey in Hong Kong, also acknowledged that:
At the same time, Glenn Woo, Director of Sales for Asia Pacific at blockchain infrastructure provider Blockdaemon, revealed that they are currently in discussions with Hong Kong ETF issuers and custodians to explore the possibility of providing staking services for ETFs.
Can staking bring a turnaround for Hong Kong ETFs?
According to data from The Block, in this week’s trading, the Hong Kong Bitcoin spot ETF accumulated a total trading volume of $10.28 million from Tuesday to Thursday, while the U.S. achieved a trading volume of $1.42 billion on Thursday alone, highlighting a significant gap between the two.
In response to this situation, Yat Siu stated that introducing staking functionality into the Ethereum spot ETF may bring more funds to the Hong Kong ETF market to change its current sluggish state.
Glenn Woo also shares the same view, believing:
Additional reading:
Opinion: How significant is the approval of Ethereum spot ETF by the SEC for the cryptocurrency market?
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