Mox, a virtual bank based in Hong Kong and a subsidiary of Standard Chartered, has become the first bank of its kind to offer direct trading of spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to its customers. Announced on August 7, Mox’s new service includes spot crypto ETF trading, with plans to expand its offerings to allow direct purchases and trading of crypto assets through a partnership with a licensed exchange.
Mox positions itself as a cost-effective option for crypto ETF trading, charging 0.12% of the transaction volume with a minimum fee of 30 Hong Kong dollars ($3.85) for Hong Kong-listed spot and derivatives ETFs, and 0.01% per share with a minimum fee of $5 for US-listed derivatives ETFs.
Spot crypto ETFs were approved and began trading in Hong Kong on April 30 as part of the country’s efforts to establish itself as a crypto hub in the Far East. Mox reports that 28% of its customers are already invested in crypto, with 18% actively trading.
Mox CEO Barbaros Uygun stated that the digital bank aims to build a global benchmark from Hong Kong by “staying ahead of the competition by being innovative and responsive to changing markets.” Uygun added that offering crypto ETFs empowers customers to access emerging asset classes with confidence. Jayant Bhatia, Mox’s chief product officer, told the South China Morning Post that the crypto ETF launch is just the start of what Mox intends to offer in the crypto investing space, though he did not specify when additional crypto trading services would be launched.
Meanwhile, the three Hong Kong spot ETF issuers—Bosera HashKey, ChinaAMC, and Harvest Global—have faced challenges in gaining traction for their products. Data from CoinGlass indicates zero flows for the three ETFs in August, with total assets under management at $236.3 million to date.