Hong Kong's crypto ETF approvals had Bitcoin Asia attendees eyeing the mainland: SCMP

Bitcoin BTC -2.74% Asia, a conference hosted by Bitcoin Magazine from May 9-10, drew over 5,500 attendees to Hong Kong this year, alongside hundreds of speakers and sponsors. 

It's no surprise that the conference ended up in Hong Kong; keen investors have paid a close eye to the city's recent embrace of crypto, from hosting Web3 events to its much-hyped approval of Asia's first six spot Bitcoin and ether ETFs, 

As a special administrative region of China, Hong Kong has some latitude to set its own policy, though some crypto investors see Hong Kong's ETF approvals as a tacit message of support of crypto from the mainland, according to a report from the conference by the South China Morning Post.

In fact, David Bailey, co-founder of Bitcoin magazine and organizer of the conference, reportedly estimated that half of the conference's attendees were from mainland China, perhaps hoping to develop further relations between Hong Kong's crypto economy and the mainland, which banned crypto in 2021, though crypto activity still persists. 

“I think the ETFs were kind of an admission that bitcoin is here to stay,” Bailey told the SCMP. Bailey also applauded the in-kind subscriptions that make it possible to purchase Hong Kong's ETFs with bitcoin and ether, calling the feature "very important." While qualified investors from outside Hong Kong are able to purchase the ETFs, mainlanders are still forbidden from purchasing shares. 

Data from SoSoValue shows that Hong Kong's spot Bitcoin ETFs currently have an AUM of just under $200 million, while its spot ether ETFs had assets under management of about $28 million.