Australia’s Biggest Stock Exchange Welcomes Second Bitcoin ETF

Key Takeaways

• The largest stock exchange in Australia will list its second spot BTC ETF on Friday.
• VanEck’s Australian BTC ETF fund is approaching $500 million in AUM.
• It is unclear if spot Ethereum (ETF) applications are welcomed or under review in Australia.

Australia’s biggest exchange has approved DigitalIX to list its Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) as institutional demand for crypto continues to climb.

The ETF will operate under ticker BTXX and will begin trading this Friday, making it the second spot BTC ETF to be issued through the exchange.

Bitcoin ETF No.2

As per an official press release from DigitalX, its spot BTC ETF application has been approved for listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The fund, developed in partnership with K2 Asset Management and 3iQ, the ETF will commence trading on July 12, 2024, at 10am AEST. Commenting on the news, DigitalX CEO, Lisa Wade, said :

“This is a watershed moment for us as a business and for the Australian digital asset investment market.”

The news comes just over three weeks after a VanEck BTC ETF (VBTC) was approved for trading on the ASX. As per data from Just ETF , VBTC has experienced solid gains, with the fund size now sitting at approximately $489 million.

VanEck on ASX

After resubmitting its application to the ASX in February 2024, VanEck secured top billing to become the first spot BTC ETF traded on the ASX, and the third to be listed in Australia.

For three years VanEck worked with the exchange and regulators to see a spot BTC ETF issued on the exchange.

According to Arian Neiron, CEO and Managing Director at VanEck Asia Pacific, there’s been an uptick in institutional appetite for Bitcoin. Furthermore, he notes that “many” of their clients are “already positioned” to allocate an investment.

Similarly to the Hong Kong spot Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs which launched in April, it’s unlikely that Australian crypto ETFs will see hundreds of millions in daily flows.

However, data provided by HeyApollo  seems to suggest a healthy appetite, with Australian BTC ETFs more than doubling their BTC holdings since launching on June 4, 2024.

Bitcoin ETFs on Cboe

Australia’s first spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading on June 4, 2024, on the Australian arm of the Cboe Global Markets exchange.

Australian-based firm Monochrome Asset Management will launch the first and only Bitcoin-backed ETF in Australia under the ticker IBTC.

The fund will carry a management fee of 0.98%, which may be considered high given that many U.S. BTC ETFs have rates of around 0.25, with Grayscale’s GBTC fee of 1.50% being the highest. Notably, Monochrome has chosen U.S.-based Gemini Trust Company as the custodian  of the fund’s BTC.

Cboe Goes Crypto

Cboe Australia is an exchange specializing in ETFs, and will be the first to list a spot BTC ETF, ahead of the larger Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

Cboe Australia claims to have a 40% share  of the Australian ETF market and also reports having a daily trading record of $5.98 billion. Notably, since 2022  it has listed BTC  and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs  provided by Global X 21 Shares, though only indirectly.

Cboe Australia became the first and only Australian ETF to directly hold Bitcoin.

The ASX, which is one of the top 25  stock exchanges in the world and trades an average of 3.5 billion a day, plans to launch its own spot BTC ETF by the end of the year, which will likely see even greater participation from Australian institutions.

Though the Cboe’s fund is expected to attract a great deal of investment, it’s worth noting that it is just one single ETF on one exchange. It is unlikely that it will compare, let alone compete with, its U.S. or Hong Kong counterparts.

Bitcoin ETF Inflows and Crypto Engagement

In 2022, Cosmos Asset Management launched a spot Bitcoin ETF. Reports say that it was delisted later due to low inflows. In contrast, the Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF managed about $62m in assets. 

It is worth noting that Australia requires adherence to strict crypto frameworks. For instance, any platform operator must hold an Australian market license. Unauthorized trading of financial products may lead to significant legal breaches.

Despite that, players are entering the market due to high adoption and engagement. According to a Swyftx report , the number of Australians who currently own cryptocurrency has steadily increased.

The figure stands at 4.5m for 2023 from 4.2m in 2022, and 3.4m in 2021. Cryptocurrency adoption among millennials has also surged from 35.6% to 40.7%, with an estimated 32.4% of Australians having owned digital assets at some point.

About the Author

Eddie Mitchell

Eddie has been writing news and content primarily for crypto news and industry players over the past seven years. With an eye for the bigger picture, Eddie prefers to investigate the broader implications of a story, as well as explore the weird and wonderful world of crypto. He believes blockchain has already changed the world, but observes the space overall with a skeptical and adoring eye.

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