US fund manager Van Eck is reportedly closer to launching a spot bitcoin ETF on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Van Eck Australia chief executive Arian Neiron said that the firm had received a “significant uptick” in interest for an ASX-listed bitcoin ETF.
In a statement, Neiron added that a spot bitcoin ETF would still need the approval of the financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
“There are still a number of hurdles from a regulatory and exchange framework perspective that must be worked through, as well as approval from ASIC, before we will see a bitcoin ETF on ASX,” he stated.
“What we do know is that there is a higher level of scrutiny and only fund managers that have the experience, capability, resources and investing pedigree will be accepted for admission.”
The subject of spot bitcoin ETFs has garnered much greater interest ever since the US Securities and Exchanges Commission approved the first tranche of spot bitcoin ETFs in January.
The SEC had resisted a number of applications for crypto-linked ETFs before relenting in the face of many legal challenges from asset managers looking to launch their spot bitcoin products.
Van Eck is among those firms, and in February, it announced that it was liquidating its bitcoin futures-based ETF now that its spot bitcoin ETF has been approved and launched in the US.
The fund has gathered around US$126 million in assets so far, trailing behind the GrayScale Bitcoin Trust with roughly $26 billion in assets under management.
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