After difficulties keeping the financial products off the market for two weeks, Australia’s first cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are due to go live on the country’s CBOE exchange on Thursday, May 12th, 2022.
Fund managers Cosmos Asset Management and ETF Securities are behind the funds, which are called Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF, ETFs 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, and ETFs 21Shares Ethereum ETF. All assets for the 21Shares products will be kept in cold storage, and investors will be able to trade cryptocurrency ETFs.
The three funds were scheduled to debut in late April, however, the launch was postponed indefinitely due to last-minute brokerage issues.
According to reports at the time, the delay was caused by an unidentified but “strong” prime broker who prevented the funds from being listed on Cboe, pointing to the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies.
According to recent sources, Cboe and related market makers had to find a new broker during the two-week wait since they couldn’t persuade the initial primary broker to change its mind.
Due to the delay, Canadian ETF provider 3iQ Digital Asset Management was able to enter the contest. The Toronto-based firm sought to offer two cryptocurrency products to investors in Australia, submitting their application on May 3rd, 2022. The 3iQ products, codenamed BT3Q and ET3Q, will trade on Cboe and follow the performance of bitcoin and ether if they are authorized.
ETF Securities crypto funds were created in partnership with 21Shares, a Swiss-based ETF producer. ETF Securities will manage the products under the agreement, while 21Shares will offer operational and research assistance.
Meanwhile, although other nations such as Canada and Switzerland have approved their first crypto ETFs, the US continues to deny applications for physically-backed Bitcoin ETFs. While the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is presently rejecting petitions for spot ETFs, it has authorized a few Bitcoin Futures ETFs.