According to Odaily, the Hong Kong Treasury Department has reported significant progress in the development of virtual assets since the Hong Kong government's policy declaration on virtual assets in October 2022. This includes the successful listing of three virtual asset futures ETFs in early 2023. In December of the same year, the Securities and Futures Commission issued a circular on virtual asset spot ETFs, accepting applications from the industry.
Within a few months, the first batch of six virtual asset spot ETFs issued by three fund companies were listed in Hong Kong. This marked the first virtual asset spot ETF market in Asia, with the Ethereum spot ETF listed in Hong Kong being the first of its kind globally. The market response has been enthusiastic, with the daily trading volume of these ETFs reaching $6.4 million within just one month of listing as of May 17.
The Monetary Authority will continue to explore the further application of distributed ledger technology in capital markets. In terms of developing digital Hong Kong dollars, the Monetary Authority has launched the second phase of the 'Digital Hong Kong Dollar' pilot program. This will further explore innovative use cases for the 'Digital Hong Kong Dollar' in Hong Kong and its three features: programmability, tokenization, and instant settlement. The Monetary Authority will also continue to explore the role of central bank digital currency in future digital currency trends.