UPDATED: April 15, 2024, 4:24 a.m. EDT
Bitcoin BTC
-1.59%
The two largest cryptocurrencies and most other tokens recovered after Iran’s drone attack on Israel sparked a selloff in crypto assets over the weekend. Bitcoin briefly fell below $62,000, while ether also fell below $3,000 momentarily.
Meanwhile, the GMCI 30, which measures the performance of a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, gained 4.6% in the last 24 hours.
Hong Kong ETF
The price recovery came as Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) gave in-principle approval to a series of crypto spot ETF applications from local financial institutions. The list includes China Asset Management, Bosera Asset Management and HashKey Capital, as well as Harvest Global Investments.
The new ETFs from Hong Kong institutions will open up spot investment channels not only for bitcoin but also for ether, which has not yet been approved in the United States.
“Hong Kong ETF approval means BTC and 
ETH
-3.79%
are becoming common assets that even your mother could buy from a bank,” wrote Joseph Young, co-founder of Decentralized Gaming Ventures, on X. “This is a game changer.”
The SFC did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that distributes news, research and data. Since November 2023, Foresight Ventures has been a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful and current information about the crypto industry. Here is our current financial information.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
About the Author
Danny Park is an East Asia reporter at The Block who writes about topics including Web3 developments and crypto regulations in the region. He was formerly a reporter at Forkast.News, where he actively covered the fall 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’s degree in journalism and business marketing from the University of Hong Kong.
