Hong Kong Spot Bitcoin ETFs Won’t See Much Inflows, Says Bloomberg Analyst

Balchunas said that the Hon Kong ETF market is very small in comparison to the US, and thus Bitcoin ETFs could see less liquidity, wider spreads, and premium discounts.
By Bhushan Akolkar
US Bitcoin ETF Outflow BTC Price

Highlights

  • Eric Balchunas expects the potential inflows in Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs to be just $500 million.
  • He said that lack of liquidity could lead to wider spreads and premium discounts.
  • Will Woo expects Bitcoin ETFs to push BTC price to $650K in conservative bullish case scenario.

Earlier today, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) approved spot Bitcoin ETFs and spot Ethereum ETFs that would soon be available for trading in two weeks from now. The development has created a major uproar in the crypto community showing a wider acceptance of crypto investment products. However, the major question in everyone’s mind is will these Hong Kong spot Bitcoin ETFs drive similar inflows to their US counterparts?

Bloomberg Analyst Doesn’t Expect Much Inflows in HK Bitcoin ETFs

Bloomberg’s ETF strategist, Eric Balchunas, offered insights into the anticipated flows of Bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong, suggesting that expectations may be overly optimistic.

Balchunas indicated a modest outlook, estimating potential flows to be closer to $500 million rather than the speculated $25 billion. He outlined several reasons for this conservative projection:

  1. The Hong Kong ETF market is relatively small, with only about $50 billion in total assets, and local Chinese investors may face restrictions in accessing these ETFs.
  2. The approved issuers, including Bosera, China AMC, and Harvest, are relatively small players compared to industry giants like BlackRock.
  3. The ecosystem supporting these ETFs may lack liquidity and efficiency, potentially leading to wider spreads and premium discounts.
  4. The fees associated with these ETFs are expected to be between 1-2%, significantly higher than the low-cost fees typically found in the US market.

Balchunas emphasized that while the addition of Bitcoin ETFs in other countries is positive, it pales in comparison to the vast US market in terms of impact.

Balchunas emphasized the positive implications of Bitcoin ETFs, noting that they provide additional investment avenues for Bitcoin. However, he underscored that compared to the US market, the impact may be relatively small. He also pointed out that over the long term, improvements such as increased liquidity, tighter spreads, lower fees, and involvement of larger issuers could mitigate these limitations.

Analysts Increase Bitcoin Price Targets to $650,000

Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo predicts that with the introduction of new Bitcoin ETFs, price targets could reach $91k at the bear market bottom and $650k at the bull market top, once ETF investors have fully deployed their assets according to asset manager recommendations. Despite these projections, Woo considers these figures to be conservative, suggesting that Bitcoin could surpass the market capitalization of gold once ETFs have fulfilled their role.

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Bhushan Akolkar
Bhushan is a seasoned crypto writer with over eight years of experience spanning more than 10,000 contributions across multiple platforms like CoinGape, CoinSpeaker, Bitcoinist, Crypto News Flash, and others. Being a Fintech enthusiast, he loves reporting across Crypto, Blockchain, DeFi, Global Macros with a keen understanding in financial markets. 

He is committed to continuous learning and stays motivated by sharing the knowledge he acquires. In his free time, Bhushan enjoys reading thriller fiction novels and occasionally explores his culinary skills. Bhushan has a bachelors degree in electronics engineering, however, his interest in finance and economics drives him to crypto and blockchain.
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