Hong Kong's securities regulator has given conditional approval for a number of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF applications.

In separate statements Monday morning, China Asset Management and Harvest Global Investments announced the in-principle approval of their applications by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Harvest Global Investments subsequently deleted its statement, likely pending an official statement from the regulator.

Digital asset platform OSL announced in separate press releases that it would act as the "sub-custodian partner" for China Asset Management and Harvest Global Investments' ETFs.

Bosera Asset Management also reportedly announced that it had received conditional approval for its ETF application, which will be jointly managed with HashKey Capital.

In a statement, OSL CEO Patrick Pan said that its appointment as sub-custodian to China Asset Management, "demonstrates our commitment to advancing digital asset investments in Hong Kong, mirroring the trend of reputable partnerships seen in the U.S. market."

The news comes just months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted approval to multiple spot Bitcoin ETF applications, which have seen billions of dollars in inflows since their launch in January.

However, the U.S. SEC has proved more reluctant to approve a spot Ethereum ETF, delaying its response to multiple applications. Meanwhile, the Ethereum Foundation revealed that it is being investigated by a "state authority"—which, while not confirmed to be a U.S. regulator, has contributed to a growing pessimism among analysts as to the chances of an Ethereum ETF being approved.

While the Chinese mainland has engaged in a years-long crackdown on cryptocurrency, Hong Kong has embraced the sector, rolling out a Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) licensing regime in June 2023 in a bid to position itself as a crypto hub.

In August 2023, HashKey and OSL became the first licensed crypto exchanges to offer services to retail users in Hong Kong.