Plans for first Australian Bitcoin ETF
Cryptocurrency investment house Monochrome is planning to launch Australia’s first Bitcoin exchange traded fund.
The firm launched the Monochrome Bitcoin fund in June which was a wholesale managed investment fund with a 100% allocation to Bitcoin. This gave investors the opportunity to invest in Bitcoin in a traditional format without engaging in digital technologies.
It was now looking to expand this to an exchange traded product after seeing “significant demand from institutional investors” to access digital assets in a way that was compatible with their existing mandates.
Jeff Yew, founder of Monochrome, said: “The Monochrome Bitcoin Fund has been a fantastic product to get us off the ground and we see it as continuing to be our core offering. However, there is much more we are looking to pursue including Australia’s first Bitcoin ETF”.
The fund had a minimum investment of $50,000 as it was mostly targeting family offices and ultra-high net worth individuals but the ETF would have a lower barrier to entry.
Speaking to Money Management, Yew said: “Launching a digital asset ETF not only offers a highly accessible investment product to more investors, but it also shifts the operational and custody risks to professional issuers and managers. This lowers the barrier of entry for consumers of the financial product making it a smoother investment.
“Firstly, holding bitcoin in an ETF is a simple and familiar way for both everyday and institutional investors to access the asset class. With an ETF, you get instant integration with wrap programs, making the consumer experience smoother than opening and maintaining various accounts on exchange platforms.
“Secondly, it shifts the cyber, operational, and custody risks to professional product issuers, further improving the experience for those wanting to invest.”
At the end of June, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced it would be consulting on the inclusion of cryptocurrency in exchange traded funds and other products which targeted retail investors.
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Laura Dew
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