Cryptocurrency-focused company 21Shares has teamed up with leading exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider ETF Securities to launch Australia’s first spot bitcoin ETF, the firm said in a statement Tuesday.
The 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC) is set to go live on the country’s Cboe trading platform, formerly Chi-X, on April 27. 21Shares’ product joins a similar fund from Cosmos Asset Management that will start trading on the same day.
Cosmos’ product became the first bitcoin ETF to receive the green light for launching in Australia yesterday as the manager agreed to the country’s main clearing house requirements for 42% of margin for such a product.
However, 21Shares’ fund will be the first offering to invest directly into the underlying asset. Cosmos’ bitcoin ETF will obtain exposure to the price of bitcoin by investing in Toronto, Canada-based Purpose Bitcoin ETF, North America’s first spot BTC ETF that launched early last year.
Hany Rashwan, CEO and co-founder of 21Shares, said in a statement that his company’s team is “incredibly excited” to be the first to offer a spot bitcoin ETF in Australia.
“Australian investors clearly want and deserve an affordable, easy, and professional way to access the growing crypto asset class and we’re delighted to continue building accessible bridges into the crypto world,” Rashwan added.
21Shares said EBTC will hold actual BTC on cold storage custody by Coinbase to track the price of Bitcoin in Australian dollars.
Australia is now set to join Canada, Singapore and Brazil as a country that offers a spot bitcoin ETF to investors, an easy onboarding experience for those interested in obtaining exposure to the price of the peer-to-peer digital cash.
Despite the popularity of such a product, however, the U.S. keeps being led astray as its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) refuses to approve a spot offering for bitcoin exposure to list in the country.
