Asia Tech Wire (Jan 29) -- Chinese asset manager Harvest Fund Management became the first institution to apply for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Hong Kong, a market rumour said on Monday.

According to China Securities Journal, Harvest Global Investments Ltd. (HGI), Harvest Fund's Hong Kong-based asset management subsidiary, has indeed filed an application for a spot bitcoin ETF with the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC).

Also according to Tencent News, on Friday Harvest Fund's Hong Kong subsidiary has filed a spot bitcoin ETF application with the SFC.

The report said that the SFC wants to expedite the approval of the first Hong Kong spot bitcoin ETF, and plans to list it on the Hong Kong stock exchange after the Chinese New Year.

Notably, it comes just two weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) first approved 11 applications for the listing and trading of a number of spot bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) shares.

Tencent News has learnt that the Hong Kong securities regulator may follow the U.S. practice of approving several applications at once.

The media outlet has also learnt that compared to spot ETFs in the US, Hong Kong's spot ETFs may add the possibility of direct purchases with Bitcoin, in addition to accepting fiat currency purchases.

However, as of now, apart from Harvest Fund, no other institution has submitted an application in Hong Kong, despite the fact that institutions including CSOP Asset Management Ltd. (CSOP AML) have communicated with the SFC on a number of occasions.