The largest stock market in Australia launched its first spot-bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Thursday, in response to the growing global need for a simple means of investing in cryptocurrencies. 90% of the nation’s equities market is traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), where the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC) went live. Earlier this week, the product listing was approved by the exchange. After trading 99,791 shares, VBTC increased 1% from its opening price to close the day at A$20.06 ($13.4). The ETF is a feeder fund that invests in the company’s U.S. ETF, HODL, which is listed on Cboe, and gives investors exposure to bitcoin.
Although the product is not the first to offer bitcoin to Australian investors, trading began approximately six months after spot bitcoin products listed in the United States and approximately seven weeks after they made their debut in Hong Kong.
The Monochrome bitcoin ETF (IBTC) by Monochrome Asset Management launched on June 4 on the Cboe Australia exchange, a smaller rival to ASX. Unlike VBTC, the fund holds bitcoin directly. Since its launch, IBTC has traded an average of around 55,000 units a day on daily average cash volumes of about A$550,000. Together the two exchange-traded funds signal a bitcoin ETF wave arriving in Australia, according to the Australian Financial Review