Monochrome Launches Australia’s First Ethereum ETF: Here’s How It Performed

• Australia’s first ETH ETF has hit roughly $183,000 in net assets on day one of trading.
• Monochrome’s Bitcoin ETF has approximately $10 million in net assets.
• The VanEck Bitcoin ETF on the ASX exchange has over $30 million in net assets.

Australia has just launched its first spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) shortly after spot Bitcoin (BTC) funds were also approved and launched.

Ethereum ETF

The Monochrome Ethereum ETF (IETH ) launched today, Oct. 15, 2024, on the Cboe Australia exchange, marking yet another milestone in the growing institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.

The fund is “dual access,” a particularly interesting part of the offering that means investors can directly transfer ETH tokens from crypto exchanges, platforms, decentralized wallets, and cold wallets into the Ethereum ETF alongside fiat. BitGo and Gemini are serving as the funds’ crypto custodians.

It has a management fee of 0.5%, which is somewhere between its U.S. and Hong Kong counterparts. Investors also benefit from no transfer fees and zero capital gains tax implications for transfers.

Day 1 Performance

So far, the fund has drawn in just over AUD 272,900, or roughly $183,400.  The first day of Australia’s IETH trading is somewhat muted compared to U.S. and Hong Kong markets.

But it’s worth noting that Australia’s ETH ETF didn’t launch as part of a long-anticipated cohort of major fund offerings.

All nine U.S. ETH funds launched simultaneously on July 23, drawing in a handsome $106.7 million on day one of trading. U.S. ETH ETFs hold $7.2 billion in net assets, 2.28% of ETH’s market cap.

There are just three ETH ETF providers in Hong Kong. Since launching on April 30, these funds have seen minimal flows and currently command $38.22 million in net assets, or 0.09% of ETH’s market cap, as of Oct. 15.

Australia Crypto ETFs

The appetite for spot crypto ETFs in Australia has been relatively high. As of Oct. 15, Monochrome’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBTC ) had drawn AUD 14.86 million, or approximately $10 million.

The VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC ), which trades on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the largest trading desk in the country, has pulled AUD 46.29 million, $31.1 million, in net assets.