By Staff Writer
Hong Kong’s jurisdiction’s first-ever bitcoin index fund designed for institutional investors has been approved by the country’s financial watchdog. Arrano Capital, the blockchain investment arm of asset management firm Venture Smart Asia has now met the licensing requirements from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) allowing it to begin dealing in cryptocurrency, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Within the first 12 months, Arrano is hoping to surpass $100 million in total assets under management through a fund tracking bitcoin price. Furthermore, the fund is the first of its kind to have received regulatory approval on the basis that it solely targets institutional investors.
Avaneesh Acquilla, chief investment officer at Arrano Capital, said “It shows there are clear guidelines for managers of cryptocurrency funds in Hong Kong and while the process is lengthy and detailed as you would expect, we have shown that it is possible to meet these standards.”
Arrano has a second product planned for launch later in 2020 that would be an actively managed fund dealing with a basket of digital assets, according to Bloomberg.
