Australia’s largest stock exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), has approved its first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is set to begin trading on June 20.
According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph by investment firm VanEck, the company will be launching a spot bitcoin ETF, the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC). This comes just a few months after the firm was approved to begin trading its spot bitcoin ETF, the VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL), in the U.S. on Jan. 11.
VanEck Asia Pacific CEO Ariane Neylon reiterated that there is growing demand in Australia to invest in Bitcoin, particularly through a “regulated, transparent and familiar investment vehicle.”
“We recognize that Bitcoin is an emerging asset class that many advisors and investors want to access,” Neylon said.
“VBTC makes bitcoin more accessible by managing all of the backend complexities. There is no longer any need to understand the technical aspects of acquiring, storing and securing digital assets,” he added.
This is the first time a spot Bitcoin ETF has been approved by the ASX, but there have been two other Bitcoin ETFs launched in Australia in the past two years.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs around the world gain attention as BTC price surpasses $71,000
Recently, the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) was approved and began trading on the Cboe Australian Exchange, Australia’s second-largest stock exchange.
The Monochrome Bitcoin ETF began trading when the Cboe Australian Exchange markets opened on June 4th.
Monochrom said IBTC’s holdings are stored offline on devices that are not connected to the internet, and that it uses a cryptocurrency custody solution that meets “Australian institutional custody regulatory standards.”
In April 2022, the Global X 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC) became the first Bitcoin ETF product to debut in Australia.
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