- BTC, ETH nurse losses after weak demand for Hong Kong ETFs.
- The six ETFs registered a first-day trading volume of just $11 million.
Bitcoin (BTC) faced selling pressure during European hours after data showed poor uptake for Hong Kong’s newly listed exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin and ether.
The leading cryptocurrency by market value fell nearly 2% from $63,300 to under $61,000 in 60 minutes to 09:00 UTC, CoinDesk data show. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, slipped 2.8% to $3,066.
The six ETFs that commenced trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday fell far short of expectations, with a combined trading volume of just $11 million, a fraction of the expected $100 million. Bitcoin ETFs accounted for $8.5 million of the tally, while ether ETFs contributed the rest.
The cumulative volume is also significantly lower than the U.S.-based spot BTC ETFs' first-day tally of $655 million. Nearly a dozen spot BTC ETFs began trading in the U.S. on January 11 and have pulled in nearly $12 billion in investor funds since then. Inflows, however, have recently slowed, stalling bitcoin’s uptrend.
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Spot ETFs allow investors to take exposure to cryptocurrency without having to own it. They are considered a better option than futures-based ETFs, which are subject to rollover costs.