By Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) – A bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was listed on Australia’s main stock exchange for the first time on Thursday, as fund managers debuted products to please investors returning to cryptocurrency markets after a surge in prices.
The VanEck ETF launched with assets of approximately A$990,000 ($660,429) on the Australian Stock Exchange and is the culmination of more than three years of negotiations with the ASX operator.
The fund will not directly own bitcoins, but will invest in the US-listed VanEck Bitcoin Trust, which launched its operations in January. VanEck’s European subsidiary also manages 12 similar cryptocurrency funds.
Investors pumped billions of dollars into cryptocurrency ETFs in the U.S. after regulators approved several products in January. Six funds were launched in Hong Kong in April, although interest in them was lower.
VanEck Australia said in March that the green airy from US regulators had prompted a surge in requests for similar products from brokers and financial advisers.
The price of bitcoin has almost tripled since 2023, although prices have remained steady since their peak in March.
A rival exchange in Australia run by local subsidiary CBOE Global Markets already hosts several bitcoin ETFs.
However, the VanEck Bitcoin ETF is the first fund to be listed on a major exchange, where it will share information with some of the country’s most well-known corporations, such as BHP and Commonwealth Bank.
($1 = 1.4990 Australian dollars)
