Stephanie Douse 
Hong Kong’s first metaverse-themed exchange-traded fund was launched by CSOP Asset Management and will be listed on February 21 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
CSOP has indicated that in order to meet its investment goal, it would pursue an active management approach that will primarily invest in publicly traded firms in the Metaverse industry in the United States.
Major Tech Milestone for Hong Kong
As per the document released by CSOP, upon inception, Metaverse Concept ETF has received around USD 9 million initial investment, The Metaverse is best understood as the next iteration of the Internet. Technology giants are investing massive resources into the Metaverse industry. Facebook even changed its company name to META to reflect its ambition of developing the Metaverse.
Metaverse will combine physical environments, two-dimensional Internet experiences such as computer games, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology, according to CSOP. The global market for AR/VR is estimated to reach about USD 300 billion by 2024, indicating Metaverse’s enormous development potential.
The Global Metaverse market is estimated to grow from approximately USD 5 million in 2020 to USD 1.5 trillion in 2030, indicating a high CAGR of 253%, reads the CSOP’s release
The Metaverse represents the beginning of a brand new era, in which a parallel new world will be created. We are optimistic about future thematic investments and firmly believe that adding CSOP Metaverse Concept ETF to our product line will further fulfill all of our investors’ investment needs, said Melody He, Deputy CEO
Since last year, when South Korea announced the launch of Asia’s first four metaverse ETFs, metaverse ETFs have been in the news. It reportedly raised approximately $100 million in just two weeks, according to sources. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley estimates that the metaverse will be worth $8 trillion in China alone.
