The Bitcoin exchange-traded fund bandwagon is coming to Australia as regulators finalize approvals for products offering direct exposure to digital assets.
In the coming days, Cosmos Asset Management will launch the Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF. Investments will be made in the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, a Toronto-listed fund with about C$1.6 billion ($1.3 billion) in assets.
There is speculation $1 billion will flow into the country’s first bitcoin ETF
“We anticipate to launch the product next week”, Dan Annan, chief executive officer at Cosmos, said in an interview.
ETF Securities and 21Shares AG are collaborating on a Bitcoin and Ether fund launch scheduled for April 27. Tokens backing the products will be stored in cold storage by Coinbase Global Inc. The Hany Rashwan, CEO and co-founder of 21Shares, said the move marks the company’s first geographic expansion outside of Europe.
Bitcoin-linked ETFs reached a peak last year when a futures-based fund was allowed in the U.S., propelling the token to an all-time high.
Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence indicates a growing adoption of cryptocurrencies in Australia. Bloomberg Intelligence has also stated that Australia could serve as the gateway to crypto ETFs for the Asia-Pacific region.
“Compare that with the U.S. who has been trying to launch one of these since 2013 and I would say Australia did not take all that long,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart.
Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that the U.S. accounts for 74% of the market value of publicly listed crypto funds, followed by Europe at 15% and Canada at 9%.
Annan argues there’s “quite a bit of a pent-up demand” in Australia and is looking at the possibility of developing ETFs investing in other tokens. ETFs tracking crypto-linked stocks are already available on the Australian market.