Hong Kong Bitcoin ​ETF launched in ‘Top 20%’, STRK fraud suspect arrested: Asia Express

Our weekly news roundup from East Asia selects the most important developments in the industry.

Hong Kong Spot Bitcoin and Ether ETF Disappoints

Six Hong Kong spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs from three issuers have attracted just over $200 million in assets under management (AUM) since launching on April 30. This disappointed many who had high expectations due to the billions of dollars the United States had requested. Look for Bitcoin ETFs within a week of their debut in January.

“We tried to warn everyone to lower their expectations about Hong Kong.” I left a comment. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

“That said, if you localize the numbers, this is a big deal. For example, the ChinaAMC Bitcoin ETF brought in $123 million on its first day, which already places it sixth among the 82 ETFs launched in Hong Kong over the past three years. and ranked in the top 20% overall.”

But market participants were less impressed. At the time of publication, Bitcoin and Ethereum have lost 10% in value over the past month. For the two ETFs, Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF and Bosera HashKey Ether ETF, AUM figures come almost entirely from pre-listing subscriptions, while post-debut trading volumes remain subdued, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

The results were not surprising.

Due to capital restrictions, the Hong Kong cryptocurrency ETF is only accessible to the city’s 7.5 million residents and some overseas traders. More than 1.4 billion residents of mainland China cannot access ETFs without prior Hong Kong residency. Additionally, Hong Kong residents already had access to the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF prior to local ETF approval.

That said, not everyone is negative about the ETF’s prospects. According to a recent survey by Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange OSL, 77% of cryptocurrency investors in East Asian cities plan to invest in local spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.

“This positive investor sentiment strongly signals the growing acceptance and importance of digital assets in the local economy, with Hong Kong once again solidifying its position as a digital asset hub,” said Gary Tiu, Executive Director and Head of Regulatory Affairs at OSL. .

Likewise, Balchunas said in a follow-up post that the Hong Kong cryptocurrency ETF’s performance was “well ahead of schedule,” with AUM of $292 million on the first day. The analyst previously set an AUM target of $1 billion within two years for the Hong Kong ETF, which is still well below the tens of billions of dollars managed by the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF.

Airdrop farmer arrested by Chinese police

Despite having largely outlawed cryptocurrencies, Chinese police arrested an individual known only as “Lan” for impersonating a Starknet developer and fraudulently demanding 40,000 STRK, then worth $120,000, from an official airdrop of an Ethereum layer 2 solution. I did. Authorities reported: “Recently, the Xiangyuan County Public Security Bureau Cyber ​​Security Brigade received a report from a victim that 40,000 STRK coins he donated to the STRK official development program were fraudulently claimed by someone else.”

“With the support of the Cybersecurity Team of the Changzhi City Public Security Bureau, Xiangyuan Cyber ​​Police finally identified the coin theft suspect named Lan, who is from Meizhou, Guangdong Province, based on relevant clues.”

Lan, who appears to have publicly boasted about airdrop theft on Twitter, wrote in the official Starknet airdrop claim form that he first searched for Starknet on Github, randomly “selected some co-contributors,” and finally “copied their names/efforts. “He said he did it. She gets a STRK. Chinese police added:

“He retrieved relevant workload certificates submitted by others, submitted more than 40 forms assuming the identities of others and falsely claimed funds. The victim’s 40,000 STRK coins were transferred to an OKX wallet and then converted into 91,000 USDT (equivalent to over 637,000 yuan) coins, which became his coins.”

On February 20, Starknet developers allocated approximately 700 million STRK tokens out of a total supply of 10 billion to reward Starknet developers, users, Ethereum solo and liquid stakers, and projects and developers outside the Web3 ecosystem.

Despite prior warnings, airdrop farmers’ accounts and copycat accounts were reportedly included in the official airdrop. The project has since grown to a fully diluted market capitalization of over $13 billion.

Binance closes Hong Kong-related entity

HKVAEX, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange known to be linked to Binance, ceased operations as of May 1.

“We have stopped registering new users and suspended all trading and deposit functions for existing users,” HKVAEX staff said. “If you encounter any issues or need assistance, especially after the platform has been delisted, please do not hesitate to contact our support team.”

Users who do not withdraw assets after the closure will be deducted a “management fee of USDT 20 or other virtual assets equivalent” along with weekly snapshots from May 1.

A few months ago, HKVAEX withdrew its application for a cryptocurrency exchange license in Hong Kong. X Account Wu Blockchain guess A withdrawal may be related to a variety of reasons, including a request to change audit firms or a request to provide additional information. The company did not give an official reason for the withdrawal.

The End of the Binance Era

Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering charges.

“I am taking my time to finalize this phase and focus on the next chapter of my life,” the former blockchain executive wrote. “I will remain a passive investor (and holder) in cryptocurrencies. Our industry has entered a new phase. Compliance is very important.” Added.

Chinese-born Canadian national Zhao founded Binance in 2017 with her spouse, Chinese broadcaster Yi He, after briefly serving as CTO of cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin (now OKX).

Under his leadership, Binance quickly became the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume with over 50% market share. The exchange pioneered features that are now prominent in the industry, such as swaps, accumulation, API bots, farm pools, initial offerings, NFT marketplace, exchange self-custodial wallets, and more.

However, the exchange’s rapid growth came at the cost of failing to maintain an appropriate compliance program. Last November, the exchange announced a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over money laundering charges. Zhao stepped down from his CEO position as part of the plea deal.

Binance’s new CEO Richard Teng has since said that the “compliance gap” of Binance’s early days is clearly a thing of the past and that the cryptocurrency exchange is now “completely different.”

subscribe

The most interesting read on blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Jyuyuan Line

Zhiyuan Sun is a journalist at Cointelegraph specializing in technology news. He has years of experience writing for major financial outlets such as The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com, and Seeking Alpha.