Yang Xu, Global Partner at leading global online brokerage Tiger Brokers, shared insights on how Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) are shaping the traditional finance industry while speaking at InnoBlock 2024, one of TOKEN2049’s largest side events this year. Xu participated in a panel discussion titled Bitcoin ETFs and Traditional Finance: Bridging the Gap, where he shared that Bitcoin ETFs help to provide safer access to the underlying cryptocurrency while addressing several long-standing issues within the digital asset space, such as master custodian concerns.
With the approval of Bitcoin ETFs on the horizon in several jurisdictions, the panel centred on how these ETFs are seeing increased institutional demand, as well as the regulatory challenges the industry needs to solve in order to create a safer environment for wider institutional adoption of digital assets. Xu added that greater institutional demand from mature investors, particularly those seeking portfolio diversification and longer-term investments, could potentially contribute to greater market stability.
Fintech News: 6lock Launches Secured Payments Platform for Private Equity Firms
In addition to the panel discussion, Xu highlighted that there has also been increased interest from retail investors beyond institutional demand for digital asset trading. To meet this need, Tiger Brokers provides 24-hour Bitcoin ETF trading to its users globally. Moreover, Tiger Brokers (HK) provides its Hong Kong users direct access to digital asset trading. In January this year, it upgraded its Type 1 licence to include virtual asset dealing services, becoming one of the first mainstream fintech brokerage firms in Hong Kong to do so. In May, virtual asset trading services were officially launched to professional investors in Hong Kong. These services were then fully expanded to retail investors in June after SFC’s approval, and currently retail investors in Hong Kong can trade virtual assets including BTC, ETH, AVAX, and LINK.
Xu also added that Tiger Brokers’ institutional wealth platform, TradingFront, provides its institutional clients a competitive edge in Bitcoin ETF investing by offering a variety of order types, including time-weighted average price (TWAP) and volume-weighted average price (VWAP) orders, which are particularly useful for institutions seeking to execute large trades without significantly impacting market prices. TradingFront also supports conditional orders, allowing clients to set specific conditions under which trades should be executed, such as price triggers or time constraints.
“Ultimately, greater institutional inflows and uptake of Bitcoin ETFs would be a welcome addition but to increase accessibility, the industry first needs to focus on strengthening regulatory frameworks, enhancing investor protections, and fostering collaboration among market participants. By proactively addressing these concerns, the industry can pave the way for broader approval of Bitcoin ETFs and further legitimize the digital asset space. Looking into the future, it would be exciting to see Bitcoin ETFs in the region, such as on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and witness how this will impact Southeast Asia’s traditional finance landscape,” added Xu.
Fintech News: Visa to Acquire Featurespace
To share your insights with the FinTech Newsroom, please write to us at news@intentamplify.com
