Hong Kong’s First Approved Crypto Fund Seeks $100M Target

Venture Smart Asia has launched Hong Kong’s first approved cryptocurrency fund with a target of $100 million under management for its first year.

According to an April 20 Bloomberg report, Arrano Capital, the blockchain arm of Venture Smart Asia, announced the rollout of a new Bitcoin (BTC) fund in Hong Kong. The venture capital firm reported it had met the conditions for a licensed crypto fund by the local Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

Arrano Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Avaneesh Acquilla said the first attempt is only a tracker fund, buying and selling BTC. Nevertheless, the firm’s goal is to pass $100 million in digital assets under management in its first year. The CIO hopes to launch a second actively managed fund dealing with a basket of tokens later in 2020.

“We decided to launch this fund to address market demand from professional investors who are increasingly focused on Bitcoin as an alternative store of value. Ultimately for Bitcoin to be widely accepted and for people to trust it, there needs to be regulation.”

Crypto funds rarely approved in HK

Since the SFC announced it would begin to formally regulate crypto exchanges in October 2018, the commission has issued few approvals. Blockchain financial services firm Diginex was one of the first to receive permission to regulate digital assets in June 2019.

However, Venture Smart Asia’s application makes it the first official crypto fund in the special economic region, allowing average investors a window into BTC. Other firms that have not met all the SFC criteria can only market to professional investors.