Crypto Updates: Hong Kong ETF Goes Live, Australia Speculated to Give ETF Approval By 2024-end and Lukewarm Halving Institutions such as Standard Chartered Bank are optimistic and hope Bitcoin value soars to USD 100,000 by the year-end

The year 2024 is seeing a lot of movement in the cryptocurrency space. U.S SEC approving Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Bitcoin reaching an all-time high, and the fourth halving event has constantly kept the players and users on their toes.

After U.S. ETF dreams entered the Asian market and saw Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission on Wednesday give the green light to the offshore units of three large Chinese asset managers to launch the first batch of spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds.

The approved AMs were China Asset Management, Bosera Asset Management, and Harvest Fund Management.

Today, Hong Kong launched trading of Asia's first spot bitcoin and ether ETFs. Within 30 minutes of opening, the new ETFs all recorded a price rise of between 0.62 percent and 3.81 percent.

Han Tongli, CEO, Harvest Global, said that having in-kind trading in Hong Kong was an "obvious advantage over the United States".

"With the recent occurrence of the Bitcoin halving event, where the rate of new Bitcoin supply entering circulation has been reduced, and the limited availability of existing supply, the launch of these new ETFs in Hong Kong could potentially catalyse further positive momentum and enhance the accessibility of Bitcoin and Ethereum to a wider investor base," said Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is also speculated to approve the first spot-BTC ETFs before the end of 2024. DigitalX Ltd applied for the approval, while VanEck resubmitted the application in February. BetaShares was reported to have been working toward launching a product on the ASX.

CoinDesk reported that Australia-based Monochrome Asset Management had applied for a spot bitcoin ETF with the global listing exchange, Cboe Australia, earlier this month.

Meanwhile, in the Northern Hemisphere Russia is adamant about crypto adoption and is planning for a ban amid growing geopolitical tensions and sanctions. According to Statista, Russian crypto miners generate approximately USD 2.59 Billion in liquidity for foreign trade settlements.

This is being done to preserve the country's financial sovereignty. With the Russia-Ukraine war still going strong, the country may try to limit the use of cryptocurrency as a war currency.

Halving reduces the supply of new bitcoins, which should in theory increase the price. The price remained relatively stable at USD 64,000, where experts speculated it would fall to as low as USD 50,000.

Institutions such as Standard Chartered Bank are optimistic and hope Bitcoin value soars to USD 100,000 by the year-end.