On July 23, Hong Kong will debut Asia’s first Bitcoin futures inverse product, the CSOP Bitcoin Future Daily (-1x) Inverse Product (7376.HK).
This new exchange-traded fund (ETF), launched by CSOP Asset Management — one of China’s largest asset managers — aims to provide investors with a way to profit from declines in Bitcoin’s price.
This launch follows the successful introduction of the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF (3066.HK) in December 2022, marking a continued expansion for the firm in the Asia-Pacific region.
Product details
The CSOP Bitcoin Futures Daily (-1x) Inverse Product aims to provide investment results that closely mirror the inverse daily performance of the S&P Bitcoin Futures Index.
It achieves this through a futures-based replication strategy, investing directly in spot-month Chicago Mercantile Exchange Bitcoin Futures.
According to a CSOP announcement on July 22, the product will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) with an initial price of approximately 7.8 Hong Kong dollars per unit.
Hong Kong Expands with New Crypto ETFs
Since late 2022, HKEX has been trading spot crypto ETFs, beginning with CSOP’s Bitcoin Futures ETF and Ether Futures ETF.
Both ETFs track BTC and Ether futures cash-settled contracts traded on the CME. Samsung Asset Management Hong Kong’s Bitcoin Futures ETF followed in January 2023.
As of April 29, these three futures products together had accumulated 1.3 billion HKD (approximately $170 million) in assets under management.
Seven Unregulated Crypto Exchanges Flagged by HK SFC
On July 5, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued alerts regarding seven crypto exchanges operating illegally in the region.
The SFC flagged these exchanges for providing services without the necessary operational licenses, categorizing them as “Suspicious Virtual Asset Trading Platforms” on its alert list.
The SFC’s goal is to mitigate fraud and scams by maintaining public records of registered, unregistered, and illegal crypto trading entities.