(Reuters) -HashKey Group will launch its inaugural Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) focused fund with an initial target size of $500 million, Hong Kong's largest licensed crypto exchange said on Monday.

The multi-currency fund's DAT strategy refers to public companies accumulating cryptocurrency assets to capitalise on higher token prices and a softening regulatory environment.

The strategy's popularity surged this year as many companies seek to replicate the success of U.S.-based Strategy, a software company that began accumulating bitcoin in 2020 and holds more than $63 billion in cryptocurrency as of June.

Strategy copycats have increased their bitcoin holdings to nearly 100,000 bitcoin collectively, according to Standard Chartered.

Through investing in and operating top-tier DAT projects globally, HashKey aims to advance crypto asset standardisation and accelerate the development of a sustainable Web3 ecosystem, it said in a statement. Web3 refers to a version of the internet that is decentralised and operates on blockchain technology.

"HashKey will build a diversified portfolio by initiating and investing in a range of DAT projects focused on mainstream crypto assets, with an initial emphasis on Ethereum and Bitcoin ecosystem projects," it said.