Tongli Han, CEO and CIO of HGI: Launch of Asia's First-mover Bitcoin Spot ETF and Ether Spot ETF, a Key Step in Consolidating Hong Kong's Role as an International Financial Hub

HONG KONG, April 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Harvest Global Investments Limited (HGI) was officially granted authorisation for Asia's first-mover Bitcoin Spot ETF and Ether Spot ETF, marking a historic milestone in Hong Kong's digital finance arena. The introduction of these two major blue-chip cryptocurrency redemption mechanisms is a global innovation. Tongli Han, CEO and CIO of HGI, believes that this move not only symbolizes a thorough integration between the traditional financial world and the digital finance realm but also has a profound impact on strengthening Hong Kong's position as a global financial center.

01 Using Hong Kong as a Foundation to Link the Global Financial Ecosystem
The Bitcoin Spot ETF, which launched in the United States in January 2024, astonishingly broke through the $10 billion market size within just two to three months, highlighting the enormous development potential of the Bitcoin Spot ETF market and its significant attraction to investors. Ethereum, as the world's second-largest cryptocurrency following Bitcoin, has also seen its spot ETF garner widespread attention from investors.

According to Tongli Han, the significant advantage of Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF and Harvest Ether Spot ETF lies in their innovative approach to cryptocurrency subscriptions. This pioneering measure provides seamless subscription convenience for global crypto asset holders and effectively promotes the circulation and trading of cryptocurrencies. This not only positions Hong Kong at the forefront of global financial innovation but also showcases the systemic advantages of Hong Kong as the world's largest free port.

02 Significant Trends in Cryptocurrency Industry Regulation and Expansion
Amidst the ongoing trend towards regulation and expansion in the cryptocurrency industry, Tongli Han expresses a firm belief in the developmental potential of the digital asset domain. He emphasizes that the time has come to accept and embrace cryptocurrencies. The launch of these ETFs is a critical step toward the regulatory compliance of virtual asset spot ETFs. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a fundamental element that will determine future production relations, with blockchain technology serving as the infrastructure for the AI world, where Bitcoin and Ethereum likely serve as valuation anchors. Therefore, a bridge linking the AI world with the real world is necessary, ensuring bidirectional communication between the real world and the blockchain realm.

03 Expanding Investment Choices, Enhancing Investment Experience
Tongli Han states that HGI is committed to providing superior services to global investors, focusing on two major strategies: expanding investment options and enhancing the investment experience.

In terms of expanding investment choices, HGI continuously innovates, as evidenced by the launch of the Bitcoin and Ether Spot ETFs, which have opened new horizons for investors. Additionally, HGI is planning to introduce a series of investment tools and products targeted at several high-growth regions and markets abroad, aiming to provide investors with broader and more diverse investment opportunities to deeply engage in markets with high growth potential.

"In improving the investment experience, HGI continuously strives to assist investors in finding the optimal solutions during the account opening process and in asset-liability management, ensuring a smooth and efficient investment process. HGI's investment team is also committed to diligent research aimed at bringing higher returns to investors, enabling them to enjoy the investment process while achieving potential asset appreciation. These efforts not only reflect HGI's relentless pursuit of enhancing service quality but also demonstrate its commitment to creating a comprehensive and high-quality investment experience for investors," explains Tongli Han.

Tongli Han views Chinese investors as a key force in the digital asset domain, and with Hong Kong serving as a "bridgehead" connecting Chinese and global markets, its status as an international financial center is self-evident. HGI firmly believes that the launch of the Bitcoin and Ether Spot ETFs will facilitate accurate and comprehensive pricing of digital assets, allowing Chinese investors to more deeply engage in the development of digital assets and AI technology. Through HGI's innovative products and services, Chinese investors will discover growth opportunities in higher-level financial markets, achieve a tight integration with global financial markets, and jointly move towards a win-win future.

IMPORTANT: Investment involves risks, including possible loss of principal amount invested. Past performance or any prediction or forecast is not indicative of future results. Investors should read the offering documents of Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF and Harvest Ether Spot ETF (collectively the "Sub-Funds") for further details, including the risk factors, before investing. Investors should not base investment decisions on this material alone. Investors should note:

• The Products:  The Sub-Funds are passively managed exchange traded funds which directly hold bitcoin and ether respectively.
• Risks relating to bitcoin/ether: The Sub-Funds are exposed to the risks of bitcoin and ether respectively through their respective investments in bitcoin and ether directly, and the risks which adversely affect the price of bitcoin/ether may also affect the value of the Sub-Funds.
• Bitcoin/ether and bitcoin/ether industry risk: Bitcoin/ether operates without central authority and is not backed by any government. Bitcoin and ether are relatively new innovations and the markets for bitcoin and ether are subject to rapid price swings, changes and uncertainty.
• Speculative nature risk: Investing in bitcoin/ether is highly speculative, and market movements are difficult to predict.
• Extremely high volatility risk: An investment in bitcoin/ether can be highly volatile compared to investments in traditional securities and an investment in the Sub-Funds may experience sudden and substantial losses. Investors should be prepared to lose the full principal value of their investment within a single day.
• Fraud, market manipulation and security failure risk: Bitcoin/ether may be subject to the risk of fraud, theft, manipulation or security failures, operational or other problems that impact virtual asset's trading platforms. The occurrence of any of the above may have negative impact on the price of bitcoin/ether and the value of the Sub-Funds' investments.
• Cybersecurity risks: Bitcoin/ether is susceptible to theft, loss and destruction. Bitcoin/ether transactions are typically not reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction. The Bitcoin/Ethereum Network is also vulnerable to various deliberate cybersecurity attacks. Cybersecurity risks of the bitcoin/Ethereum protocol and of entities that custody or facilitate the transfers or trading of bitcoin/ether could result in a decline in the value of bitcoin/ether.
• Regulatory risk: The regulation of bitcoin/ether, virtual assets and related products and services continues to evolve. Regulatory changes and actions with respect to virtual assets generally or any single virtual asset in particular may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in the bitcoin/ether.
• Fork risk: Developers may propose modifications to the Bitcoin/Ethereum Network from time to time. If the updated Bitcoin/Ethereum Network is not compatible with the original bitcoin/Ethereum software and a sufficient number (but not necessarily a majority) of users and miners elect not to migrate to the updated Bitcoin/Ethereum Network, this would result in a "hard fork" of the Bitcoin/Ethereum Network, resulting in the existence of two versions of Bitcoin/Ethereum Network running in parallel and a split of the blockchain underlying the Bitcoin/Ethereum Network. The occurrence of such "fork" may result in an adverse impact on the price and liquidity of bitcoin/ether and the value of the Sub-Funds' investments.
• Virtual asset's trading platform risk: Virtual asset's trading platforms have in the past, and may in the future, collapse, stop operating or temporarily or permanently shut down due to fraud, cybersecurity issues, manipulation, security breaches. The potential consequences of failures of virtual asset's trading platforms could adversely affect the value of bitcoin/ether and in turn the value of the Sub-Funds.
• Cybersecurity risk in relation to the custody of virtual assets: The security procedures in place for the custody of virtual assets may not be able to protect against all errors, software flaws or other vulnerabilities in the Sub-Funds' technical infrastructure, which could result in theft, loss or damage of the Sub-Funds' assets.

Index disclaimer: CF Benchmarks Ltd index data is used under license as a source of information for certain Harvest Global Investments Limited's ("HGI") products. CF Benchmarks Ltd, its licensors and agents have no other connection to HGI's products and services and do not sponsor, endorse, recommend or promote any HGI's products or services. CF Benchmarks Ltd, its licensors and agents have no obligation or liability in connection with HGI's products and services. CF Benchmarks Ltd, its licensors and agents do not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of any index licensed to HGI and shall not have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions therein.

The Sub-Funds are authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong ("SFC"). Such authorizations do not imply official recommendation by the SFC.

This material is published by HGI and has not been reviewed by the SFC.

SOURCE Harvest Global Investments Limited