Crypto Markets Bleed on Underwhelming Hong Kong ETF Flows

Crypto markets continue to bleed despite the debut of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, is trading below $61,000, while Ethereum (ETH) is down 7%, trading around $3,000. The global crypto market capitalization, as measured by CoinGecko, has dropped 4% to $2.35 trillion.

According to data from CoinGlass, over $300 million of leveraged positions were liquidated on Tuesday morning.

The six ETFs that began trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday fell significantly short of expectations. The total trading volume amounted to just $11 million, far below the anticipated $100 million. Bitcoin ETFs made up $8.5 million of the total, while Ether ETFs contributed the remaining amount, data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) shows.

Analysts suggest that the launches did not fully live up to their hype.

Since January 11, nearly a dozen spot BTC ETFs have been trading in the U.S. and have attracted close to $12 billion in investor funds. The first-day cumulative volume of the U.S. spot BTC ETFs was $655 million.

Spot ETFs provide investors with exposure to the underlying asset – Bitcoin in this case – without requiring them to directly own and custody their own coins.

This week is filled with economic news as Fed policymakers gather for their two-day meeting.

Michael Van de Poppe, CEO and founder of MN Trading, tweeted on X about the start of a massive macroeconomic week.

“Expecting some more downside on Bitcoin, after which I think we’ll find the bottom within one week. Taking liquidity <$61K and rotate back up from there,” he said.

Stocks bleed ahead of Fed meeting

Stocks turned red on Tuesday as higher-than-expected wage data raised concerns about inflation ahead of the Fed meeting.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.17%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.27%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159 points, or 0.38%.

Crypto-related stocks like MicroStrategy (MSTR) dropped by 10%, while Coinbase’s (COIN) shares dipped by 3%.

Bitcoin mining stocks, including Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and Bitfarms (BITF), registered losses of between 4% and 7% on Tuesday.