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Hong Kong on Tuesday launched trading of Asia’s first spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), moving forward in the city’s race to become a regional virtual asset investment hub.
The debut comes three months after the United States gave the green light to ETFs pegged to bitcoin’s spot price, making it easier for mainstream investors to add the unit to portfolio.
Hong Kong’s pioneering crypto ETFs on the city’s bourse include six funds issued by three managers — Bosera Funds, China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited and Harvest Global Investments.
ETF
An ETF is a collection of marketable securities that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets.
In simple terms, ETFs are funds that track indexes such as CNX Nifty, or BSE Sensex, etc.
An ETF can be structured to track anything from the price of an individual commodity to a large and diverse collection of securities.
ETFs can even be structured to track specific investment strategies.
ETF funds are somewhat similar to mutual funds in terms of their structure, regulation, and management.
Additionally, just like mutual funds, they are a pooled investment vehicle that offers diversified investment into various asset classes like stocks, commodities, bonds, currencies, options, or a blend of these.
Unlike mutual funds, ETFs can be purchased or sold on a stock exchange in the same way that regular stocks can.
The traded price of an ETF changes throughout the day like any other stock, as it is bought and sold on the stock exchange.
The trading value of an ETF is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks that it represents.
ETFs typically have higher daily liquidity and lower fees than mutual fund schemes, making them an attractive alternative for individual investors.
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