Bitcoin and Ethereum Spot ETFs Debuts in Australia

21Shares and ETF Securities will launch Australia’s first Bitcoin and Ether spot ETFs next week.

 

The crypto ETF market in Australia is getting more crowded, with two spot ETFs from 21Shares set to launch next week, joining an offering from Cosmos Asset Management.

 

• 21Shares, which has $2.5 billion in assets under management with 30 global exchange-traded products, has partnered with ETF Securities to launch a bitcoin (BTC) ETF and an ether (ETH) ETF, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

 

• The products will be the first in Australia to invest directly in the underlying assets. Cosmos Asset Management’s ETF invests in the Toronto-based Purpose Bitcoin ETF as opposed to spot bitcoin.

 

• Both funds will be listed on the Cboe Exchange starting on April 27 with prices being tracked against the Australian dollar.

 

• The funds will hold bitcoin and ether in cold storage, with Coinbase (COIN) as the custodian.

 

• The two products give investors a “way of trading crypto in a tightly-regulated environment without having to maintain their wallet and manage risk,” said Graham Tuckwell, executive chairman of ETF Securities Australia.

 

• Australia’s launch of crypto ETFs has sparked criticism of U.S. regulators from VanEck Director Gabor Gurbacs, who called the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s conservative stance on bitcoin ETF listing as “a big loss for investors.”