Key Points
- Australia’s first Bitcoin ETF with direct BTC holdings, IBTC, goes live on June 4.
- The country already had two exchange-traded products offering exposure to crypto on CBOE Australia, but they don’t hold BTC directly.
According to the latest reports, Australia-based Monochrome Asset Management’s Monochrome Bitcoin ETF, IBTC, will begin trading on the CBOE Australia exchange tomorrow.
This product is the first and only ETF holding Bitcoin directly in the country, according to the company.
According to the announcement, before IBTC, Australian investors were only able to invest in ETFs that indirectly hold BTC or via offshore BTC products.
These do not benefit from the investor protection rules under the directly held crypto asset Australian Services Licensing (AFSL) licensing regime.
The country already has two ETFs offering exposure to crypto on Cboe Australia, but they don’t hold BTC directly.
Monochrome applied for a BTC ETF in April
Monochrome applied for the spot BTC ETF back in April. Since the US approved the BTC ETFs in January, regions such as Hong Kong and Australia also showed that they are open to crypto products.
April also saw the approval of the first batch of crypto ETFs in Hong Kong in the region’s efforts to become a leading digital assets hub.
According to the same reports, the firms require the approval of the regulator – the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). After that, the firms also require the exchange listing of the product. In this case, the exchange is Cboe Australia.
Jeff Yew, CEO of Monochrome Asset Management, said that the latest move in the country aligns with Monochrome’s investor protection-driven mission to offer secure, compliant, and straightforward pathways to take part in the transformative space.
The US approved the 11 Bitcoin ETFs back in January 2024, and the nation is getting ready to embrace the launch of Ethereum ETFs following a recent listing approval by the SEC. Last week, May 31 was the last day when Ethereum ETF issuers could submit their amended S-1 forms.
