The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has approved its first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). ASX is Australia’s largest stock exchange. The VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC) will begin trading on Thursday, 20 June 2024.
VanEck CEO, Arian Neiron, states, “We recognize Bitcoin is an emerging asset class that many advisers and investors want to access. 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.” (source)
VanEck has already had success in the United States, where the firm launched the VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL), a spot Bitcoin ETF, on 11 January 2024.
The first Bitcoin ETF to debut in Australia was the Global X 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC), which launched in April 2022. Australian Bitcoin ETFs also include Monochrome’s Bitcoin ETF IBTC, which launched on 04 June 2024.