Bitcoin rose on Wednesday morning in Asia as all top 10 cryptocurrencies traded higher after strong gains on Wall Street amid signs the U.S. economy is in stronger shape than expected. Additionally, more traditional financial institutions are venturing into the U.S. digital asset industry, with asset manager Fidelity reportedly preparing for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.
All top 10 cryptos rise
Bitcoin climbed 1.3% to US$30,606 over the last 24 hours to 7:10 a.m. in Hong Kong, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up 8.51% over the past seven days.
Ether rose 1.63% to US$1,887 for a gain of 5.61% for the week.
All top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies traded higher, with Polygon leading the gains on a 3.26% jump and a 5.96% weekly gain.
Fidelity is close to filing an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., The Block news site reported on Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the matter. This follows a wave of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF applications submitted by asset managers this month, including BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco and Bitwise, indicating institutions are confident in the profit potential in digital assets.
However, all the applications will need approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Fidelity’s previous attempt to offer a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. in 2021 was rejected. It did however launch the Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF in Toronto, Canada, in December 2021. The ETF has risen 75% since the beginning of this year.
Investors are also reacting to reports HSBC, one of the world’s top 10 banks, is reportedly offering Bitcoin and Ether futures ETFs on its investment platform for bank customers in Hong Kong.
HSBC did not respond to requests seeking clarification on exactly when the products became available to clients as they were listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in December. However, the development is seen as significant as the bank has traditionally been frosty toward cryptocurrencies, preventing clients from transferring funds from HSBC accounts directly to crypto exchanges.
“Although these crypto ETFs [in Hong Kong] are based on CME futures and are not physically backed like many of the [exchange traded products] in Europe, this is certainly very positive news for investors in the region who want to get regulated exposure to price movements in Bitcoin and Ethereum,” Bradley Duke, co-CEO at Europe-based ETC Group, said in an emailed statement.
The total cryptocurrency market cap rose 1.21% to US$1.19 trillion, with trading volume dropping 8.08% to US$35.49 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
