VanEck lead charge as Australia prepares for Bitcoin ETF launch

Australia is poised to join the global trend of countries, including the US and Hong Kong, allowing their citizens to invest in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Earlier today, Bloomberg reported that the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) could approve its inaugural batch of spot Bitcoin ETF before the end of the year after receiving applications from notable players like VanEck, BetaShares, and DigitalX.

ASX is the largest equity exchange in Australia. According to its website, the firm’s domestic market capitalization stood at $2.7 trillion, with over 2000 issuers as of March 2024.

Meanwhile, this upcoming launch would mark Australia’s second wave of such products. In 2022, the country witnessed the introduction of various crypto ETFs from entities like Cosmos Asset Management and Global X 21Shares.

However, these offerings were pulled from the market due to lackluster demand. Initially, trading volumes fell short of expectations, and the onset of a crypto downturn, exacerbated by the collapse of FTX and Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin, further discouraged investor interest.

Despite these previous setbacks, issuers are optimistic this time around. Arian Neiron, the CEO and Managing Director of VanEck Asia Pacific, said:

“Since the US SEC ruling, we’ve experienced a significant uptick in queries and requests from the adviser and broker community regarding our submission to ASX to launch a Bitcoin ETF. The demand for access to Bitcoin via a listed vehicle traded on ASX has been increasing and many of our clients have told us that their clients are already positioned to have an allocation ready to invest.”

Since their launch in January, Bitcoin ETFs have surged in popularity, breaking numerous records and amassing an unprecedented $53 billion in assets under management (AUM).

However, despite initial enthusiasm and substantial growth, these ETFs are now experiencing a decline in inflows.

Over the past week, substantial outflows exceeding $300 million were recorded across the ETFs, with significant players like BlackRock and Fidelity witnessing days of zero flows.

Market observers interpret this trend as a sign of waning investor enthusiasm for these investment vehicles. Nonetheless, there remains optimism that the products may experience renewed interest from the industry.

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