Next week, Israel will see the launch of several mutual funds tracking bitcoin's value, after their approval by the Israeli Securities Authority, local media reports. With bitcoin investment skyrocketing in the country with growing regulatory approval and institutional adoption, the country's push into the space is likely to solidify the growth of its nascent digital asset industry.
"The investment houses have been pleading for more than a year for [exchange-traded funds] ETFs to be approved, and started sending prospectuses for bitcoin funds in the middle of the year,” an investment house executive told Israeli business news outlet Calcalist. However, the move has progressed at a restrained pace. “The regulator marches to its own tune," the executive said. "It has to check the details.”
Meitav, IBI, Migdal Capital Markets, More, Ayalon, and Phoenix Investment are among the Israeli investment houses launching the mutual funds, CoinDesk reports, with some collecting up to 1.5% in management fees.
Since their debut in the United States in January, bitcoin ETFs have had a strong performance, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) attracting major investor interest. On December 26, U.S. bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $475.2 million.
Other territories like Hong Kong have also debuted spot bitcoin and ether ETFs this year. Post-Donald Trump’s re-election, Hong Kong's ETFs logged $26.3 million in daily trades on November 21, a marked upsurge after recording a paltry $9.7 million on the ETFs’ launch date of April 30, according to data from SoSoValue.
“Currently, limited investor access to these products hampers trading volume and [assets under management],” Hashkey Capital Liquid Fund Partner Jupiter Zheng told The Block.