First Bitcoin ETF to list on Australia’s bourse in global wave

AN EXCHANGE-TRADED fund (ETF) investing directly in Bitcoin will list on Australia’s main stock market for the first time, kicking off another wave of such listings after similar products began trading in the US and Hong Kong.

Exchange operator ASX, which handles the bulk of the country’s stock trading, has approved the VanEck Bitcoin ETF which will be listed on Thursday (Jun 20), VanEck said in a press release on Saturday.

“We recognise Bitcoin is an emerging asset class that many advisers and investors want to access,” Arian Neiron, chief executive for VanEck in the Asia-Pacific region, said in the statement. The ETF offers exposure to Bitcoin “using a regulated, transparent and familiar investment vehicle”, he said.

The Australia listing comes as US$58 billion has been amassed by US Bitcoin ETFs that debuted this year, including offerings from BlackRock and Fidelity Investments as well as VanEck. Hong Kong permitted spot ETFs for Bitcoin and the Ether token in April, but they have garnered a fraction of the interest of the US vehicles.

Sydney-based BetaShares and DigitalX, another local player, are also lining up for listings on the main Australian board. An initial round of Bitcoin ETFs launched in Australia two years ago on CBOE Australia, the country’s junior bourse.

The latter had mixed success, but now there are growing expectations the trend will gain traction due to the higher profile of the exchange, alongside the rally in the largest digital asset over the past year. BLOOMBERG