The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has accepted an application for the issuance of a blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The application for the blockchain ETF was accepted by the CSRC on Tuesday, December 24. It was filed by Penghua Fund, an asset management company based in China’s Shenzhen city. While it is currently unclear how long is required before a response, the Chinese blockchain community seems to be carefully watching.

First Blockchain ETF In China

The product has been named the Penghua Shenzhen Stocks Blockchain ETF. Penghua intends for the ETF to track and mirror all blockchain firms with public listings in Shenzhen. The ETF will also be open to the public without any restrictions, like other available stocks in the market.

A news report from the Shanghai Securities News platform states the importance of the ETF. According to the report, the product, as well as similar offerings, will push the Chinese blockchain sector forward.

“The industry believes that with the landing of such fund products in the future, it will provide investors with a new way to share the development dividend of the blockchain industry.”

If the application is approved, it will be the first blockchain ETF with a green light from the CSRC in China.

Shenzhen Exchange Blockchain 50 Index

On the same day of the filing, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange also unveiled a new product. Called the Blockchain 50 Index, the product includes 50 stocks available on the exchange, which are blockchain firms. The exchange’s announcement explains how the stocks are ranked and adjusted.

“The index is weighted by free-float market value, and the sample stocks are regularly adjusted on the next trading day of the second Friday in June and December each year.”

At the moment, the Blockchain 50 Index includes Ping An Bank, Wholeasy, and many others.

China To Lead Blockchain Industry

Since President Xi Jinping’s public endorsement of blockchain technology, there has been a lot of news from China. While the country is still anti-crypto, more than 500 blockchain projects have been registered by the Cyber Administration of China.

In addition, China has pretty much made the atmosphere very conducive for blockchain firms, in a bit to lead the sector globally. The kind of support for blockchain, seen from the Chinese government, has not exactly been mirrored in other countries. It is expected that if this continues, it might at some point be too late for these other countries to put their foot in the door.

China is also seriously working on its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). Recently, it announced it is ready to test the currency with certain financial and telecoms institutions. There are several other countries also considering issuing their own CBDC, but none has moved as fast as China. The Chinese Yuan will most likely be the first fully functional CBDC in the world.