GetBlock Magazine - What happened? In Australia, institutional interest in bitcoin-based spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is growing as such products attract significant capital in the US. Bloomberg, citing sources, reports that the country's largest exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), is already preparing to launch a BTC-ETF.

Bloomberg material

What else is known? AXS accounts for about 80% of the country's exchange trading volume. Anonymous sources familiar with the matter say it will list the first Bitcoin funds from several local investment firms before the end of 2024. Applications for the launch have already been submitted by BetaShares, DigitalX, as well as VanEck, which offers similar ETFs in the US and Europe.

The ASX itself said that the exchange “continues to engage with a number of issuers who are interested in listing ETFs based on crypto assets”, but did not specify the timing.

DigitalX chief executive Lisa Wade expects cryptocurrency could account for up to 10% of Australians' portfolios, "given its potential as a financial instrument." VanEck Australia deputy head of investment and capital markets Jamie Hannah believes much of the inflow will come from superannuation funds, where account holders can choose where to invest their funds. Overall, the country's pension market is valued at $2.3 trillion, and about a quarter of those assets are held in so-called self-managed funds.

The filings with AXS are the second wave of spot Bitcoin ETF launches in Australia, with the country's first such product listed two years ago on CBOE Australia, which accounts for less than a fifth of share trading volume.

Sydney-based Cosmos Asset Management launched a spot BTC ETF in 2022 but delisted later that year due to low inflows. The Global X 21Shares fund, launched the same year, has accumulated $62 million in assets under management.

In turn, in the United States, bitcoin funds launched on January 11 of this year have accumulated over $53 billion worth of bitcoins under management.

In turn, the Hong Kong regulator approved both Bitcoin and Ethereum funds. Trading in spot product units is due to begin on April 30. However, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balnchunas does not expect a large influx of funds due to the specifics of the local market. Ethereum funds have not yet received approval in the United States.