Hong Kong-based MicroBit Capital Management took two years to launch its bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with their debuts coming amid record-high prices for cryptocurrencies and global regulators’ increasing recognition of digital assets.

“Now I believe everybody considers bitcoin, or cryptocurrencies, as quite an important asset class; it’s no longer a scam,” said chief investment officer Kenny Khuong last month during MicroBit’s ETF listings on the Hong Kong stock exchange. “Cryptocurrency is entering a new phase suitable for mass adoption.”

Greater participation from institutional investors would help reduce cryptocurrency volatility, Khuong said. With increasing regulatory oversight globally, including in Hong Kong and the US, he expected cryptoassets to gain greater utility, which would feed a positive outlook.

“This is just the beginning of the regulatory integration of cryptoassets with traditional finance,” Khuong said.

Many surveys showed crypto’s growing mainstream acceptance. This year, nearly 60 per cent of institutional investors planned to allocate more than 5 per cent of their assets under management to cryptocurrencies, “a clear sign that it is moving beyond a niche asset class”, according to a study by EY-Parthenon and Coinbase in January.

Another survey by BNY Wealth showed that family offices’ allocations to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets stood at around 7 per cent, boosted by a 75 per cent surge in allocations by non-US family offices over the past 12 months.