VanEck Bitcoin ETF Debuts on Australian Stock Exchange ASX: Will It Mirror US Success?

Following a strong debut in the US, spot Bitcoin ETFs are now garnering interest in the international market. The VanEck Bitcoin ETF begins trading today, June 20, on the Australian stock exchange, marking the first Bitcoin ETF listing on Australia’s primary stock exchange.

The VanEck Bitcoin ETF will commence trading on the ASX Ltd. exchange with an initial funding of A$985,000 ($657,000). This ETF acts as a feeder fund for the $647 million VanEck Bitcoin Trust operating in the United States, and serves as an alternative to Crypto exchanges in Australia.

Australia Planning to Introduce More Bitcoin ETF Offerings Very Soon

As per the latest report, Sydney-based DigitalX Ltd. and BetaShares Holdings Pty. are working to list their ETF offerings on Australia’s topmost stock exchange. However, a person from the ASX confirmed that VanEck is the only applicant getting the approval so far while the ASX exchange continues to engage with issuers in the meantime.

Note that some crypto ETFs are already running on CBOE Australia, the country’s other bourse. The three funds — Global X 21Shares Bitcoin, Global X 21Shares Ethereum, and Monochrome Bitcoin — collectively manage assets totaling approximately $90 million.

After going live earlier this year in January, the US BTC ETFs took the crypto market by storm with massive inflows. However, amid the current Fed uncertainty these Bitcoin ETFs outflows have surged over the past few trading sessions.

Along with the US, the top crypto-friendly jurisdictions in the Asia Pacific region have also shown keen interest in offering Bitcoin ETFs. In a note, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ETF Analyst Rebecca Sin wrote: “The Asia-Pacific region’s potential for virtual-asset ETFs may hit more than $3 billion in the next few years”. There’s likely to be an even split within the top three regions – Hong Kong, Australia, and South Korea.

A Look Into Day 1 Inflows

By the end of the trading session in Australia, the VanEck Bitcoin ETF clocked 1.9 million AUD in total trading volume. This is far below the $4.5 billion trading volumes registered by 10 Bitcoin ETFs in the US, on the launch day. Even if we consider the average, each Bitcoin ETF saw $450 million in trading volume.

However, VanEck remains optimistic that inflows in the Australian market will eventually catchup. “We have had a significant amount of retail and professional investors express strong interest in getting Bitcoin exposure through ASX,” said VanEck deputy head of investments and capital markets Jamie Hannah.

Top Banks to Approve BTC ETFs

As per the latest Bernstein report, top banking institutions and major warehouses are on the “cusp of approval” for some of the top Bitcoin ETFs. As the spot Bitcoin ETFs lose steam, the bears predict that they are “done” for now.

Critics argue that the initial ETF allocations are largely driven by retail investors, with institutional participation limited to the basis “cash and carry” trade rather than net long positions. This implies that ETF flows are not “real,” according to a note from Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra to clients on Tuesday.