The Australian Securities Exchange’s first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) concluded its inaugural trading day with a trading volume of $1.3 million.
The total trading volumes of the United States’ spot Bitcoin ETFs on the first day were $4.5 billion, with an average of approximately $450 million per fund. This is significantly lower than the inaugural trading day.
In an interview, the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC) issuer, investment firm VanEck, expressed optimism that the product will experience comparable development to Bitcoin ETFs in the United States despite the market size disparity.
Jamie Hannah, VanEck’s deputy director of investments and capital markets, stated, “Although the Australian market is significantly smaller than the U.S. and the majority of our flow is retail rather than institutional, there is a possibility that we may follow a similar trajectory.”
Hannah says, “A substantial number of professional and retail investors have expressed a strong interest in obtaining exposure to Bitcoin through ASX.”
According to ASX data, VBTC was trading at $13.24 at the beginning of the market and closed at $13.34 at the close of the day, with 96,476 shares traded intraday.
On June 15, Cointelegraph reported that Arian Neiron, the CEO of VanEck in the Asia-Pacific region, reiterated that the demand for VanEck is increasing in Australia, mainly through a “regulated, transparent, and familiar investment vehicle.”
“We acknowledge that Bitcoin is a new asset class that a significant number of investors and advisers are interested in gaining access to,” Neiron stated.
“VBTC also ensures that bitcoin is more accessible by managing the backend complexity.” He also stated that it is no longer necessary to comprehend the technical aspects of acquiring, storing, and securing digital assets.
Two other Bitcoin ETF products have already been introduced in Australia, although it is the first spot Bitcoin ETF listed on ASX.
The Monochrome Bitcoin ETF was recently approved and commenced trading on the Cboe Australia exchange, the second-largest stock exchange in Australia.
The first Bitcoin ETF product to debut in Australia was the Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF in April 2022.
