Bitcoin Slides Toward $60,000 As Hong Kong’s Spot BTC And Ether ETFs Disappoint Upon Debut

Bitcoin (BTC) is taking a nosedive today. According to CoinGecko, the crypto market leader is trading for $60,577, having plunged by approximately 2.6% in the past day.

This plunge comes on the back of data showing weak demand for the newly launched Hong Kong spot exchange-traded funds tied to BTC and Ethereum (ETH).

Hong Kong ETFs Fail To Impress With Low First-Day Trading Volume

Hong Kong has become the first in Asia to offer spot crypto ETFs trading. Hong Kong Exchange remarked in a press release that investor interest in virtual asset ETFs has increased since funds based on crypto asset futures were rolled out in late 2022. Pundits have been estimating that the launch of the new spot ETFs could pull in roughly $25 billion into the market if opened for Chinese investors from the mainland.

However, the first day of trading for the Hong Kong-based spot Bitcoin and ether ETFs was marked by low volume. The six new spot BTC and ETH ETFs that started trading on April 30 failed to meet expectations, with BTC products drawing just $8.5 million in volume and ETH fetching $2.5 million on the first day.

The cumulative volume is considerably lower than that of the U.S. spot BTC ETFs, which commenced trading on January 11. On their highly-awaited debut, the U.S. investment products recorded $4.5 billion worth of trading. As of press time, the U.S. ETFs have fetched approximately $12 billion in investor funds. However, the inflows have slowed recently, hampering Bitcoin’s uptrend.

Over the past week, BTC has shed more than 7.9% of its value. Nonetheless, the debut of crypto ETFs in Hong Kong appears unlikely to breathe new life into this lethargic market.

Ether’s Big Test

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that introducing crypto ETFs in Hong Kong will help analysts get a clear look at how popular Ether is compared to Bitcoin in the ETF format.

Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs seem less likely to be issued in the U.S. in the near term. As the May deadline for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to decide on spot ETH ETF applications draws closer, approval odds have reduced significantly.

Industry experts have cited the absence of meaningful interactions between prospective issuers and the SEC ahead of the key regulatory deadline. Adding to the pressure, the SEC has reportedly long regarded Ether as an unregistered security following its transition to proof-of-stake back in 2022.

Ether has slipped to $2,994 at publication time, a -5% change over the last 24 hours.