Photo credit: Reuters

Asset manager VanEck’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund debuted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on June 20, making it the the first spot BTC ETF of the country’s main stock market.

Trading under the VBTC ticker symbol, the VanEck Bitcoin ETF had a seed investment of about 985,000 Australian dollars ($657,000). According to an earlier product disclosure statement, the product is a feeder fund for the $647 million VanEck Bitcoin Trust in the United States.

VBTC had a total net assets of about 982,850 Australian dollars ($655,560), with a net asset value of $19.66, as of the close of the previous trading day per VanEck’s website.

Andrew Campion, general manager of investment products and strategy of ASX, reportedly highlighted the accessibility benefits of the new Bitcoin ETF:

“While it has been possible to trade Bitcoin via crypto exchanges, trading units with exposure to Bitcoin via an ETF on an exchange like ASX means you’re able to buy and sell those units through a traditional brokerage account, simplifying the process and opening the opportunity to more Australians.”

VanEck said it had been in talks with the ASX, which accounts for 90% of Australia’s equity market, to bring a spot Bitcoin ETF to the stock exchange since 2021. Allegedly being the first to formally lodge a submission for such a product to ASX, the fund manager resubmitted its application to the exchange in February this year.

Read more: Australia bans online gambling using Bitcoin, crypto credit cards

Besides VanEck, several issuers have also submitted their applications for Bitcoin ETFs, including local entities BetaShares and DigitalX.

The listing of the VanEck’s BTC ETF comes as ASX was reportedly planning to list its first batch of such products this year.

Crypto ETF’s are already available in the Australian market via CBOE Australia, the country’s other bourse. Earlier this month, it approved the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC), which joins Global X 21Shares Bitcoin (EBTC) and Global X 21Shares Ethereum (EETH) of already listed products. That brings the CBOE’s combined assets to about $90 million.

Spot crypto ETFs made their debut in the United States in January, with 11 Bitcoin-focused funds quickly accumulating $56.06 billion in net assets. This surge in popularity exceeded initial forecasts for the new financial products. Hong Kong followed suit in April, launching spot ETFs for both Bitcoin and Ether, which have since garnered over $1.38 billion in net assets.

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