Australia’s largest stock exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), has given the green light to its inaugural spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), scheduled to launch on June 20.
According to a press release from VanEck shared with Cointelegraph, investment firm VanEck will be the issuer of the spot Bitcoin ETF, known as the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC). This approval comes shortly after the firm received the green light to trade spot Bitcoin ETFs, specifically the VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL), in the United States on January 11.
Arian Neiron, the Chief Executive Officer for VanEck in the Asia-Pacific region, emphasized the increasing demand for Bitcoin exposure in Australia, particularly through a “regulated, transparent, and familiar investment vehicle.”
Neiron stated, “We understand that Bitcoin is an emerging asset class that many advisers and investors are eager to access. VBTC aims to make Bitcoin more accessible by simplifying the complexities of acquiring, storing, and securing digital assets.”
While this marks the first approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the ASX, Australia has seen two other instances of Bitcoin ETF launches in the past two years. The Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) recently received approval and commenced trading on Australia’s second largest stock exchange, the Cboe Australia exchange, on June 4.
Monochrome highlighted that IBTC’s holdings are securely stored offline and adhere to Australian institutional custody regulatory standards. In April 2022, the Global X 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC) became Australia’s inaugural Bitcoin ETF product.
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