Bitcoin Wavers Around $63K, Awaiting Hong Kong Spot Crypto ETF Debut

Cryptocurrencies gave up weekend gains, with the broad market CoinDesk Market Index falling 3% in the last 24 hours.

The first batch of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs listed in Hong Kong will begin trading on Tuesday morning.

ChinaAMC’s head of digital asset management said the offerings will be beneficial for crypto prices to increase liquidity and expand participation.

Crypto markets were bearish overall, with Bitcoin {{BTC}} fluctuating around $63,000 as the upcoming Hong Kong crypto spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) launch failed to generate excitement among investors.

BTC fell intraday from $64,000 over the weekend, briefly falling to $61,800 before rebounding near $63,000 during the US afternoon hours. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is changing hands at $63,000, down nearly 1% over the past 24 hours, and is doing better than the broader CoinDesk Market Index (CD20), which is down 3% in the same period.

Most altcoin majors also gave up weekend gains; ether {{ETH}}, solana {{SOL}}, dogecoin {{DOGE}} fell 4%-6%.

Crypto markets have been drifting sideways for the past few weeks due to the lack of a strong investment narrative that will drive prices higher, with last month’s record-breaking BTC price action and the altcoin and memecoin frenzy continuing to cool. CoinDesk’s Bitcoin and Ether Trend Indicators both remain in neutral reading, indicating a market with no clear direction.

While spot-based bitcoin and ether ETFs in Hong Kong will begin trading on Tuesday morning local time, the initial outflow has not generated a similar level of anticipation as the firestorm that preceded U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. The price of BTC, in particular, nearly doubled over the three months leading up to the debut on January 11, and significant inflows helped BTC rise above $73,000 in March.

Read more: Hong Kong’s Incoming Spot Bitcoin ETFs Could Be a ‘Big Opportunity’ Here’s What Analysts Say

Defying muted expectations, an executive at ChinaAMC, one of three issuers of the new spot ETFs listed in Hong Kong, said at the press conference that first-day share issuance could exceed the initial $125 million in U.S. shares. Seed financing of new products.

“I am quite confident that the initial listing scale of Hong Kong’s virtual asset spot ETF can exceed the issuance scale of the United States on the first day,” said Zhu Haokang, head of digital asset management and family wealth.

Wayne Huang, head of ETFs and custody at crypto exchange OSL, said the exchange had completed its first day of fundraising for two of the new offerings, confirming Haokang’s prediction.

The story continues

“Looking at the numbers, transactions are indeed much larger than the capital inflow on the first trading day of the US bitcoin spot ETF,” Huang said.

Haokang also said that ETFs will be beneficial for crypto prices as the offerings provide greater liquidity to digital asset markets, expanding funding channels and participation.