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- Singapore has moved forward with a spot Bitcoin ETF even as plans for similar U.S.-listed funds remain sidelined by Securities and Exchange Commission opposition.
- Singapore-based fund manager Fintonia Group launched the country's first spot Bitcoin fund after receiving approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
- The ETF will actually buy and hold physical Bitcoin.
- "The fund acquires 'physical' Bitcoin, meaning we will buy the actual Bitcoin [rather than] a derivative instrument on Bitcoin," Adrian Chng, founder and chairman of Fintonia Group told Fund Selector Asia.
- Chng added that he believes Bitcoin is an excellent form of capital for loans, being that it trades 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Moreover, it's highly liquid, with approximately $30B to $60B exchanged per day.
- Chng further noted that crypto-assets can be rapidly liquidated, in contrast to commodities and other tangible assets.
- Price action for Bitcoin (BTC-USD): +5.7% Monday and +100.2% YTD.
- Singapore hopes to become one of the focal points for crypto-assets in the global economy.
- "We think the best approach is not to clamp down or ban these things," Ravi Menon, managing director of the MAS, said earlier in the month.
- By contrast, U.S. firms' have attempted to roll out spot Bitcoin ETFs but have run into SEC opposition.
- Experts don't expect a U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF until mid-2022.