Important aspects:
- The to begin with bitcoin exchange-traded finance (ETF) has been recorded on the Australian Securities Trade (ASX).
- Through a traditional brokerage account, investors will be able to invest in bitcoin thanks to the VanEck Bitcoin ETF.
Joining a string of comparable launches in the US and Hong Kong this year, an exchange-traded fund that invests in Bitcoin made its debut on Australia’s primary stock market.
About 985,000 Australian dollars ($657,000) were invested as seed when the VanEck Bitcoin ETF made its debut on the ASX Limited exchange on Thursday. The product is a feeder fund for the $647 million VanEck Bitcoin Trust.
Investing in bitcoin just got easier
Investing in the US-listed VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL) allows investors to gain exposure to bitcoin via the VanEck Bitcoin ETF, which acts as a feeder fund.
According to Andrew Campion, general manager of financial products and strategy at ASX, the new ETF will make investing in bitcoin much easier and more accessible for Australians.
In Australia, the ASX is the primary equity exchange, handling more than 80% of domestic trades. As of May, the exchange had a domestic market capitalization of $2.6 trillion.
More Bitcoin ETFs on the skyline
Two other local players, DigitalX Ltd. and Sydney-based BetaShares Holdings Private, are also in line to be listed on the main Australian board. According to an ASX spokesperson, VanEck is the only applicant to have received approval so far, and discussions with other issuers are still ongoing.
The VanEck Bitcoin ETF, on the other hand, is the first fund to debut in the primary market, sharing the tickertape with some of the country’s most prestigious companies, including Commonwealth Bank and BHP.
Cboe Australia, Australia’s second-largest stock exchange, approved the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) earlier this month. Australian investors have already started trading spot bitcoin ETFs, such as the Global X 21Shares Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, which was listed on Cboe in April 2022. Global X 21Shares Bitcoin, Global X 21Shares Ethereum, and Monochrome Bitcoin have a combined asset value of around $90 million.
Spot crypto ETFs were first introduced in the US in January. Since then, the 11 top bitcoin funds in the United States have surpassed pre-launch estimates with a combined net asset value of $56.06 billion. Spot ETFs for bitcoin and ether were also launched in Hong Kong in April, and so far, their combined net assets have exceeded $1.38 billion.
