Hot on the heels of its Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Hong Kong, Samsung Asset Management has indicated it’s considering the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF on the city’s exchange if policies allow for it.<\/p>\n In an interview<\/a> with Bloomberg published on Jan. 13, Hong Kong chief executive for Samsung Asset Management, Sam Park, said: \u201cIt really depends on how policy is going to be developed,\u201d adding that the Hong Kong administrators are \u201cclearly\u201d interested in developing the city into a crypto hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n An ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Rebecca Sin, noted that \u201cHong Kong is well positioned to become Asia\u2019s crypto gateway,\u201d and expects spot Bitcoin and Ether (ETH<\/a>) products to be allowed there by the year’s end.<\/p>\n A spot market refers to a market where the exchange of financial instruments is settled immediately, while a futures market refers to a market where participants buy and sell contracts to be settled at a later date, with products considered derivatives.<\/p>\n Samsung launched its Bitcoin futures ETF<\/a> on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Market on Jan. 13, with the exchange currently the only one in Asia which supports the trading of Bitcoin futures ETFs. <\/p>\n As of the time of publishing, the ETF has already recorded a 4.2% increase<\/a> in its price. <\/p>\n Other Hong Kong futures ETFs have also seen interest, with two ETFs managed by CSOP Asset Management having raised $73.6 million in investments<\/a> ahead of their Dec. 16 listing.<\/p>\n As noted by CSOP executive Yi Wang at the time: \u201cThe ETFs do not invest in physical Bitcoin and […] there are more regulatory safeguards for investors compared to tokens traded on unregulated platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong>Hong Kong watchdog aims to restrict retail traders to liquid products<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In a Twitter Spaces interview with Bloomberg Asia on Jan. 5, Animoca Brands Chairman Yat Sui indicated that Hong Kong was looking more attractive<\/a> as a listing location compared to the United States, noting:<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. obviously seemed to be the market at the time that was perhaps a good one. But I would argue that, you know, places like Asia, particularly Hong Kong, are starting to look pretty attractive with their virtual asset policies, […] with their desire to basically be a leader in the space.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A lack of regulatory clarity has often been cited as the reason why so much crypto activity is leaving the United States<\/a>, and has prompted lawmakers to push for crypto regulations as soon as possible<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-01\/5040d1f9-6474-4aed-81d9-ad092fa4c7b4.png\")