Sept 8 (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.