Crypto Markets Lower as Hong Kong Crypto ETF Debut Fails to Excite Investors
Crypto markets were lower across the board on Monday, with bitcoin (BTC) hovering near $63,000 as the highly anticipated Hong Kong crypto spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) debut failed to ignite excitement among investors.
BTC saw a slight dip during the day, dropping from $64,000 over the weekend to $61,800 before rebounding to around $63,000 during U.S. afternoon hours. Despite the 1% decrease in the past 24 hours, bitcoin held up better than the broader market, as the CoinDesk Market Index (CD20) lost 3% over the same period.
Major altcoins such as ether (ETH), solana (SOL), and dogecoin (DOGE) also experienced declines of 4%-6%, giving up their weekend gains.
The crypto markets have been trading sideways in recent weeks, lacking a strong investment narrative to drive prices. This cooling off comes after last month’s record-breaking BTC price action and the frenzy surrounding altcoins and memecoins. Both CoinDesk’s Bitcoin and Ether Trend Indicators are currently in neutral territory, indicating a market without a clear direction.
Despite the excitement surrounding the launch of spot-based bitcoin and ether ETFs in Hong Kong on Tuesday, investors did not show the same level of anticipation as they did for the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. However, Zhu Haokang, head of digital asset management and family wealth at ChinaAMC, one of the issuers of the new Hong Kong-listed spot ETFs, expressed confidence that the initial listing scale of the ETFs could surpass the U.S. debut’s $125 million seed funding.
Wayne Huang, head of ETF and custody at crypto exchange OSL, confirmed Haokang’s forecast, stating that the first day of raising funds for two of the new offerings exceeded the capital inflow of the U.S. bitcoin spot ETF on its first day of trading.
Haokang believes that the ETFs will be beneficial for crypto prices, as they will provide more liquidity to digital asset markets, broaden funding channels, and increase participation. Investors will be closely watching the performance of these new ETFs as they begin trading in Hong Kong.
