Kraken’s CF Benchmarks hits 50% dominance on crypto ETF market

Kraken’s CF Benchmarks achieves dominance in the crypto ETF market with $24 billion in reference data, gears up for expansion amid unprecedented demand surge.

CF Benchmarks, a branch of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is making big gains from this year’s rise in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The firm, which provides price data for the ETFs, is now handling about $24 billion worth of crypto ETFs, according to a Bloomberg report, representing roughly half of the crypto benchmarking market.

CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung said in an interview the firm sees crypto ETFs reaching Israel and South Korea next, saying the latter has gained a “high degree of [crypto] adoption.”

“South Korea is a market where ETFs have become the wrapper of choice for long-term savings.”

Sui Chung

Initially, the firm expected $5 billion in assets this year for the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs using its data. However, Chung disclosed that the actual demand far exceeded the projection, surpassing four times the expected amount.

Despite a somewhat lukewarm reception, with initial trading volumes for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in Hong Kong reaching less than $13 million, according to Bloomberg data, CF Benchmarks remains optimistic about the region’s potential. Chung revealed that the firm anticipates managing approximately $1 billion in assets for Hong Kong products by the end of 2024.

In mid-April, Hong Kong granted approval for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, a few months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the go-ahead to several spot Bitcoin ETF applications in the U.S. However, while Hong Kong progresses, the SEC appears to be taking a more cautious approach regarding spot Ethereum ETFs, potentially postponing approvals until later in 2024 or even beyond.

Founded in 2017, CF Benchmarks was later acquired by Kraken in 2019.