Application for China's 'First' Blockchain ETF Filed With Regulator

An application for a blockchain-focused exchange-traded-fund has been filed with China's securities regulator, according to a disclosure from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The proposal, filed on Dec. 24 by Shenzhen-based asset manager Penghua Fund, is for an ETF that would track the performance of a basket of publicly-listed stocks from businesses in the blockchain sector.

The index is composed of the top 50 Shenzhen-listed blockchain firms by market capitalization.

As SSJ notes, the firms in the new index reflect a broad cross-section of the industry, with specializations that include hardware development, technology and services, and blockchain applications.

Even as the blockchain sector remains in its infancy, SSJ notes that a deepening of policy guidance and a rising number of mature firms in the industry could see the popularity of domestic blockchain-themed ETFs soar.

In an interview with SSJ, an unnamed fund manager from a Beijing-based firm noted that many investors still lack orientation when it comes to investing in the blockchain industry.

Everbright Prudential Fund Manager Dong Weiwei told the SSJ that as a distributed and highly secure technology, blockchain has wide-ranging cross-industry potential.

Beijing continues to toe a firm anti-cryptocurrency line, in marked contrast to its bullish stance toward its underlying blockchain technology.

2019 saw a watershed endorsement of blockchain from President Xi Jinping.

The People's Bank of China is meanwhile expected to be the first central bank of a leading global economy to roll out a central bank digital currency.