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The cryptocurrency community is excited about the Hong Kong government reportedly weighing the launch of a spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) amid the ongoing regulatory pushback against such products in the United States.

Hong Kong’s potential entrance into spot crypto ETFs could be a significant development in the context of the economic confrontation between the U.S. and China, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes believes.

Hayes took to X (formerly Twitter) on Nov. 6 to express excitement over competition between the two economies, emphasizing that this competition will eventually be good for Bitcoin (BTC).

“Competition is amazing. If the U.S. has its proxy asset manager, BlackRock, launching an ETF, China needs its proxy asset manager to launch one, too,” he wrote.

Cryptocurrency brand Coin Bureau was also quick to react to the potential spot crypto ETF launch in Hong Kong. According to the Coin Bureau, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might be getting some pressure amid other jurisdictions like Hong Kong jumping on the bandwagon of a spot Bitcoin ETF.

“It’s a cursory tale to the SEC that if they continue to stifle capital market innovation in the United States, other countries are going to fill the void,” Coin Bureau wrote on X.

Crypto influencer Lark Davis also stressed that the latest spot crypto ETF news from Hong Kong shows that the Chinese government doesn’t want to miss out on crypto opportunities.

“Hong Kong going to get spot Bitcoin ETFs now! Chinese money does not want miss out,” Davis stated.

Hong Kong is considering allowing retail investors to access spot ETFs linked to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, providing regulatory concerns are met, Securities and Futures Commission CEO Julia Leung said, according to a Bloomberg report on Nov. 5. The SFC did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Hong Kong’s potential move into spot Bitcoin ETFs comes as at least a dozen investment firms in the U.S. seek to launch similar products in the country despite long-running pushback from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Although both Hong Kong and the U.S. have permitted crypto ETFs linked to futures contracts, the jurisdictions are yet to approve a spot crypto ETF. Unlike a futures Bitcoin ETF, which tracks futures contracts to replicate BTC prices, a spot Bitcoin ETF directly holds BTC, allowing investors to gain exposure to the asset.

Related: Spot Bitcoin ETF hype reignited zest for blockchain games: Yat Siu

The U.S. was the first to launch futures-linked crypto ETFs in 2021, with Hong Kong following in its footsteps in late 2022 with the launch of CSOP cryptocurrency futures products. Combined with the Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF, Hong Kong has about $65 million in crypto ETF assets, according to Bloomberg. The futures crypto ETFs have seen low demand in Hong Kong, with their share still being tiny compared to other global crypto funds.

Geographical split of assets in publicly listed crypto funds. Source: Bloomberg Intelligence

Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation — the biggest bank in Hong Kong — reportedly enabled its customers to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether (ETH)-based ETFs in June 2023.

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