The Australian Securities Exchange(ASX) approval for the first bitcoin ETF:
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has approved its first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), marking a significant milestone in making cryptocurrencies more accessible to Australian investors.
The VanEck Bitcoin ETF, which will trade on the The Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker VBTC starting Thursday, is the first ETF on the exchange to track the price of bitcoin, the most widely held and actively traded cryptocurrency. Arian Neiron, VanEck’s Asia Pacific managing director, acknowledged the divisive nature of cryptocurrency investing but emphasized that bitcoin remains an emerging asset class of interest to many advisors and investors.
“We have developed a robust offering that we believe provides an opportunity for bitcoin exposure using a regulated, transparent, and familiar investment vehicle,” Neiron stated.
Andrew Campion, the The Australian Securities Exchange’s general manager of investment products, noted that the approval of such an ETF had been years in the making. “We’ve had interest in listing a crypto ETF for nearly five years,” he said. “We came close two years ago, just before the crypto winter, but interest revived with the recovery of cryptocurrency prices over the last 12 months, leading to this approval.”
This approval comes nearly six months after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved nine bitcoin ETFs to list in the US, attracting new institutional investors, including major hedge funds like Millennium Management, Point72 Asset Management, and Elliott Investment Management, which have collectively invested billions in bitcoin ETFs this year.
The most widely held US bitcoin ETF, iShares’ Bitcoin Trust, holds approximately $19.5 billion in digital assets. In April, Brisbane-based Monochrome Asset Management withdrew its application to list a bitcoin ETF on the ASX, opting instead for Cboe’s rival Australian exchange, where it officially listed this month. Monochrome joins Global X’s 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, operating on the alternative exchange since 2022.
Data from Morningstar shows that Global X’s spot bitcoin ETF was the best-performing listed ETF in Australia in the 12 months leading up to March 31, with a 153.5 percent return, driven by strong cryptocurrency price gains ahead of the SEC’s decision.
The price of bitcoin, which debuted in 2008 as a digital store of wealth, surged by up to 80 percent in the months following the SEC’s approval in January but has stabilized around $66,000 over the past two months.
Research from VanEck indicated that 76.2 percent of surveyed advisers reported client inquiries about bitcoin, with about a third willing to add a bitcoin ETF to client portfolios if available on the ASX. However, not all are convinced. Zenith Investment Partners advised against exposure to bitcoin, citing the high potential for capital losses.
“Despite growing interest in bitcoin, we don’t currently advocate for its use within our clients’ portfolios due to the amplified potential for capital losses,” stated Zenith investment consultant Calvin Richardson, adding that bitcoin’s recent trading history made it difficult to define its role in a client’s portfolio beyond speculation.
Ethereum prices, the second most traded cryptocurrency, rose sharply in May amid speculation about the SEC’s potential approval of a spot ethereum ETF. The ASX indicated that its existing framework could allow for the consideration of an ethereum ETF for future listing.
