- Australia is joining the global Bitcoin ETF race
- Monochrome and Vasco filed applications under new framework of rules
- Australian regulators updated rules for crypto products in 2021
Australia is joining the race for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
As the US sees a wave of new introductions for spot Bitcoin ETFs, and Europe is about to launch the first, Australia is also seeing renewed interest in ETFs.
Monochrome Asset Management, an Australian-based asset management firm, filed an updated application for a spot (also called spot or physical) Bitcoin ETF with the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on Friday. The efforts come in partnership with Vasco Trustees, according to a company statement.
While it is not the first application for a Bitcoin ETF in the country, it marks the first since regulators laid out new rules for issuers and operators of cryptocurrency-based financial products.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ( ASIC ) revised its rules for licensing Australian Financial Services ( AFS ) in October 2021 in a bid to promote market transparency among digital currency firms, while improving protection of investors, as Blockworks recalls .
Australia already has cryptocurrency ETFs
Monochrome‘s partner, Vasco, is authorized under the said licensing scheme to offer retail investors direct and regulated exposure to the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) through two managed investment schemes: the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF and Monochrome Ethereum ETF , the firm said in the note.
Monochrome CEO Jeff Yew explained to Cointelegraph that these products make it possible for Australian retail investors to “ buy and use the asset class in the way they see fit with investment options [and] in a regulated manner, and also by trading within the usual regulatory perimeter .”
The Monochrome and Vasco cryptocurrency ETFs will not be the first of their kind in the country.
A similar product introduced by Cosmos Asset Management tried to take the crown as Australia’s first Bitcoin ETF last year. However, that fund was not directly based on digital assets, but was instead a fund of funds, based on Canada’s first spot Bitcoin ETF, managed by Purpose.
Instead, a fund managed by Global X and 21Shares ended up becoming the first to list in Australia, while Cosmos withdrew its offering in November due to a lack of interest, according to Blockworks.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been a recent point of interest in the cryptocurrency space; especially in the United States, where several high-profile financial institutions, including BlackRock and Fidelity, have recently applied for products of this nature. US regulators have yet to approve the first physical Bitcoin ETF.
