Kraken's CF Benchmarks achieve dominance in the cryptocurrency ETF market with $24 billion worth of benchmark data, and are poised to expand amid an unprecedented surge in demand.
CF Benchmarks, a subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is making big gains from this year's rise in bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The company, which provides price data for ETFs, now handles about $24 billion worth of cryptocurrency ETFs, according to Bloomberg. a reportrepresents nearly half of the cryptocurrency measurement market.
CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung said in an interview that the company expects crypto ETFs to arrive in Israel and South Korea next, saying the latter has gained a “high degree of (cryptocurrency) adoption.”
“South Korea is a market where ETFs have become the preferred choice for long-term savings.”
Sui Chung
Initially, the company projected $5 billion in assets this year for U.S.-traded bitcoin ETFs using its data. However, Chung revealed that actual demand far exceeded expectations, exceeding four times the expected amount.
Despite the somewhat lukewarm reception, initial trading volumes for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in Hong Kong reached less than $13 million, according to Bloomberg. DataCF Standards remains optimistic about the region's potential. Chung revealed that the company expects to manage approximately $1 billion worth of assets for Hong Kong products by the end of 2024.
In mid-April, Hong Kong granted approval for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, just months after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light to several US Bitcoin ETF applications. However, as Hong Kong moves forward, the SEC appears to be taking a more cautious approach to Ethereum ETFs, potentially postponing approvals until later in 2024 or even later.
CF Benchmarks was founded in 2017 and was later acquired by Kraken in 2019.