Lawrence Chu, Chairman of the Hong Kong-based financial services company VSFG, revealed in an interview with The Block this week that the company’s application for a Bitcoin spot ETF has entered its final stage of review by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Chu claimed that if their Bitcoin ETF is approved and listed in the first quarter, they will further submit an application for an Ethereum spot ETF in the second quarter.
However, Chu emphasized that this is only the company’s current plan and the actual outcome will depend on discussions with regulatory authorities.
Since the approval of spot ETFs in the United States, the Hong Kong region, which has a positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies, has also begun actively promoting related products. Livio Weng, the CEO of Hong Kong’s cryptocurrency exchange HashKey, stated last month that approximately 10 fund companies are considering launching potential cryptocurrency spot ETFs in the region.
Nevertheless, Chu believes that this is not a competitive threat for his company due to VSFG’s unique market positioning. He stated, “VSFG is the first digital asset manager approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, dedicated to integrating traditional asset management with future finance and providing services such as digital wealth management and asset tokenization.”
