China’s financial watchdog accepts ETF application to track blockchain stocks

China’s financial watchdog, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) recently decided to accept an application for listing an ETF. The goal of the application is to track blockchain-related stocks as underlying assets. The application came from Penghua Fund — an asset management company based in Shenzhen. The company’s ETF proposal focuses on tracking and reflecting the state of public stocks via the blockchain technology. However, while the fact that the CSRC accepted the application is viewed as a positive move, this still does not mean that the firm has the final approval. In other words, the application’s journey is still not over, and it will have to wait for a certain period until CSRC delivers the final go-ahead. If it does receive the approval, it will become China’s first blockchain-based ETF, and it will be open to public investors.

China goes blockchain-friendly but still doesn’t approve of crypto

Copy link to section The approval came just after the Shenzhen stock exchange released a new blockchain index, featuring 50 different blockchain firms. The companies that make up the index include various software firms, banks, and even internet firms that deal with crypto mining. However, Beijing authorities recently also called attention to the crypto crackdown, which is still on-going. While China has finally decided that blockchain technology holds real potential, and is currently doing everything in its power to push adoption, it still remains against the use of cryptocurrencies. The only supported crypto will be China’s upcoming CBDC, while trading crypto remains banned. Since some firms allegedly misinterpreted the country’s new blockchain-friendly stance, Beijing has promised that all firms that started working with cryptocurrencies will be punished, as the old anti-crypto laws still stand.