The exchange-traded fund (ETF) for direct investment in bitcoin has been listed on the Australian main board for the first time.
According to the Zhixin Finance app, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) for direct investment in bitcoin has been listed on the Australian main board for the first time and has joined the wave of similar funds launched in the United States and China's Hong Kong this year.
The VanEck Bitcoin ETF made its debut on the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday, with a seed investment of approximately AUD 985,000 (USD 657,000). The product is a feeder fund for the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, a USD 647 million fund in the United States.
The US bitcoin spot ETF went online in January of this year, sweeping Wall Street and accumulating USD 56 billion in assets so far. In April of this year, China's Hong Kong allowed spot ETFs tracking bitcoin and ethereum to be launched, but these funds have attracted less global capital than similar products in the United States.
BetaShares Holdings Pty, headquartered in Sydney, and another Australian local company, DigitalX Ltd., also have bitcoin ETFs waiting in line to be listed on the Australian main board. ASX, the operator of the Australian Securities Exchange, said VanEck is the only approved applicant for bitcoin ETFs so far, and the institution is currently in talks with other issuers.
Cryptocurrency ETFs have already been listed on another Australian exchange, CBOE Australia. The total assets of funds such as Global X 21Shares Bitcoin, Global X 21Shares Ethereum, and Monochrome Bitcoin are approximately USD 90 million.
Rebecca Sin, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a report: "In the next few years, the potential for virtual asset ETFs in the Asia-Pacific region may exceed USD 3 billion." She added that once South Korea finally allows cryptocurrency funds to be listed, these funds will be roughly divided among Australia, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
Since the beginning of 2023, bitcoin has rebounded from a deep bear market and its price has almost doubled. In March of this year, bitcoin reached a historical high of USD 73,798, then fell back and has been stagnant recently.