Bitcoin: Can Asia catch up as U.S. BTC ETFs control global liquidity?

Asia’s crypto ETF market remains developing rather than mature, despite early progress.

Hong Kong leads the region, launching Asia’s first spot for Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] ETFs in 2024.

By the end of Q3 2025, AUM had reached roughly $920 million before moderating to about $340 million in spot BTC ETFs in January 2026.

This showed that growth is stronger in percentage terms, yet scale remains limited.

Meanwhile, the monetary authorities of Singapore, Japan, and South Korea remain cautious.

As a result, Asia competes conceptually but not yet structurally, positioning itself as an emerging, policy-driven follower rather than a global ETF leader.

Japan lags materially. The Financial Services Agency is targeting spot Bitcoin ETFs no earlier than 2028, with legislation planned for 2026 to reclassify crypto as “specified assets,” emphasizing custody and investor protection.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs: The global liquidity benchmark

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs decisively outperform their Asian counterparts in scale, liquidity, and market influence.

As of late January 2026, the United States market holds roughly $118-120 billion AUM and over 611,000 BTC, while Hong Kong remains constrained near $250-340 million.

Source: CoinGlass

This disparity reflects faster U.S. regulatory execution, deeper capital pools, and highly efficient creation-redemption systems.

As a result, issuers such as BlackRock and Fidelity dominate flows, supported by authorized participants that convert ETF demand directly into spot BTC buying or selling.

Source: CoinGlass

As a result, U.S. ETF inflows often reinforce bullish momentum, while sharp outflows amplify downside moves, shaping sentiment and price discovery across crypto markets.

Asia’s ETFs largely track price passively, whereas U.S. products actively transmit macro signals, institutional positioning, and risk sentiment into Bitcoin’s short-term movements.

This dynamic cements U.S. ETFs as the primary drivers of global crypto liquidity and market psychology.

ETF flows, macro risk, and short-term volatility

Over the weekend, Bitcoin dipped toward the $86,500–$87,000 zone, while gold and silver rallied to new highs above $5,000/oz and $100–110/oz.

This divergence underscored risk-on versus safe-haven dynamics amid rising macro uncertainty. The Bitcoin pullback reflected ETF-related fragility layered on broader risk-off forces, not an isolated ETF shock.

Source: X

However, yen strength, U.S. shutdown risks, and defensive positioning remained the primary drivers. ETFs amplified volatility but did not initiate it.

Globally, U.S. ETFs dominate activity, while Hong Kong products stay largely inactive.

All in all, U.S. ETFs dictate global crypto liquidity and sentiment, while Asia remains policy-constrained and macro forces continue to dominate short-term market direction.

Moreover, macro forces ultimately determine the direction of short-term cryptocurrency.

Final Thoughts

• U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs now anchor global crypto liquidity, while Asia’s ETF market remains fragmented, cautious, and structurally underdeveloped.
• ETF flows increasingly amplify Bitcoin’s short-term volatility, yet macro forces, not regional ETF activity, continue to dictate market direction.