Samsung’s Asset Management Arm Launches Bitcoin Futures ETF in Hong Kong

Samsung’s asset management arm has launched a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF). The new actively managed ETF is listed and traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It seeks “to provide economic exposure to the value of bitcoin,” Samsung detailed.

Samsung Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Asset Management, a member of the Samsung Group of companies, launched a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Friday called “Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF.”

The new ETF is a sub-fund of Samsung ETFs Trust III, an umbrella unit trust established under Hong Kong law, the company detailed, adding:

The investment objective of the sub-fund is to seek to provide economic exposure to the value of bitcoin by investing predominately in front-month bitcoin futures contracts and/or micro bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Samsung explained that the actively managed bitcoin futures ETF paves the way “for investment in future crypto-technology adoption.” However, the company noted that the fund “does not invest directly in bitcoin and will not receive any bitcoin from bitcoin futures on CME.” CME is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

While bitcoin is priced in U.S. dollars, units of the Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF are listed and traded in Hong Kong dollars on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK), the company clarified.

The bitcoin futures ETF is managed by Samsung Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd. while HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Asia) Ltd. is the fund’s trustee and registrar. The fund “will enter into and have exposure of up to 100%” of its net asset value (NAV) in Bitcoin Futures on CME, the company added.

The newly launched ETF is not Samsung Asset Management’s only crypto-related fund. In June last year, the Hong Kong firm launched “Samsung Blockchain Technologies ETF” and “Samsung Asia Pacific ex NZ Metaverse Theme ETF.”

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