ASX Approves Its First Ever Bitcoin Spot ETF, VanEck’s Product Set Launch This Week

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has approved its first-ever Bitcoin spot ETF, with US-based investment management firm VanEck set to launch its VBTC product on the nation’s leading exchange this Thursday, June 20. 

VanEck’s fund isn’t the first Bitcoin spot ETF to launch down under, but it is the first to come to the ASX. 

The VanEck Bitcoin ETF’s ASX debut comes just a few months after the firm launched its VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL) product in the US and marks another important milestone for the adoption of digital assets in Australia.

Related: Bloomberg: Multiple Australian Spot Bitcoin ETFs Anticipated to Launch on ASX This Year 

ETF Launch Brings Regulated, Transparent Bitcoin Exposure, Says VanEck

The ASX’s approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF follows a global trend towards listing crypto-based exchange-traded products. Earlier this year a raft of Bitcoin spot ETFs were approved in the US to great fanfare—but other jurisdictions have also listed crypto ETFs recently, including Hong Kong and the UK.

According to a VanEck press release, the launch of the new ETF will provide Australians with more regulated exposure to Bitcoin through a product that is more familiar to most investors. VanEck’s Asia-Pacific CEO and Managing Director, Arian Neiron, said:

Notwithstanding that crypto investing is a polarising topic, we recognise bitcoin is an emerging asset class that many advisers and investors want to access. We have developed a robust offering that we believe provides an opportunity for bitcoin exposure using a regulated, transparent and familiar investment vehicle.

Arian Neiron, VanEck’s Asia-Pacific CEO and Managing Director

Neiron also emphasised that the new ETF will allow Australian investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without having to worry about many of the more technical aspects of holding crypto, such as self-custody and security:

VBTC also makes bitcoin more accessible by managing all the back-end complexity. Understanding the technical aspects of acquiring, storing and securing digital assets is no longer necessary.

Arian Neiron, VanEck’s Asia-Pacific CEO and Managing Director

VanEck Fund Not The First In Aus, But Still Significant

VanEck’s ETF isn’t the first Bitcoin spot ETF to launch in Australia: we’ve had a couple of them trading on the smaller Cboe Australia exchange for a while now. But until recently, none of them held Bitcoin directly. 

Earlier this month, the first Bitcoin spot ETF to directly hold Bitcoin launched in Australia (Monochrome’s IBTC fund), on the smaller Cboe Australia exchange.

Related: Breaking: Australia’s First Bitcoin ETF Directly Holding BTC Goes Live on CBOE 

The real significance of the VanEck ETF launch is that it will be coming to the nation’s largest exchange—the ASX accounts for about 80% of equities trading in Australian while Cboe accounts for about 20%—and is therefore much more likely to see large-scale adoption.

According to research conducted by VanEck, 33% of financial advisers said they would add a Bitcoin ETF to their clients portfolios if it was available on the ASX.