Kraken’s Indices Provider Anticipates $1B AUM in Hong Kong ETFs by 2024 End: Bloomberg

As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen interest in the latest developments within the industry, I find the recent news about CF Benchmarks and the debut of crypto ETFs in Hong Kong particularly intriguing. With around $24 billion in assets under management (AUM) in the crypto benchmarking market, CF Benchmarks, a London-based firm owned by cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, plays a significant role in providing reference data for various crypto ETFs.

The head of CF Benchmarks at Kraken, which is a cryptocurrency exchange, believes that Hong Kong-based crypto ETFs will surpass $1 billion in assets by the close of 2024, despite an uncertain start, according to Bloomberg’s report published on Friday.

London-based CF Benchmarks functions as a provider of benchmark data for crypto Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), primarily focusing on bitcoin products such as BlackRock’s IBIT. With an assets under management (AUM) figure nearing $24 billion in this sector, they claim to account for approximately half the market share within crypto benchmarking.

The company is currently collaborating with recently launched ETFs in Hong Kong, which have seen modest trading activity so far. Nevertheless, CEO Sui Chung anticipates that the firm’s assets under management (AUM) will surpass $1 billion by year-end based on an interview in the report.

Chung sees South Korea and Israel as the next markets to list crypto ETFs.

“ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) are popular investment vehicles for long-term savings in South Korea’s market,” the speaker remarked.

CF Benchmarks was formed in 2017 and acquired by Kraken for a nine-figure sum in 2019.

The company did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for further comment.