Within the first 15 minutes of its debut on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), BetaShares’ new crypto firm ETF smashed records.
Investors can receive exposure to 50 pure-play listed crypto enterprises from around the world, including exchanges, mining companies, and equipment companies, through the Capital Appreciation Portfolio Diversification (CRYP) fund.
Galaxy Digital (12.0 %), Marathon Digital (11.3 %), Coinbase Global (10.7 %), Silvergate Capital (10.2 %), and Microstrategy are among the top CRYP firms (9.4 % ).
Investors blew through the previous ETF record of $5.8 million (A$8 million) in minutes, soaring to around $31.3 million (A$42.5 million) by the end of the first day, indicating significant pent-up demand for crypto exposure on the ASX.
CRYP’s success was not surprising, according to Ryan McCall, CEO of Australian crypto investment platform Zerocap, considering Australia’s enthusiasm for crypto during the past 12 months.
“We’ve had records broken in our business this year too; demand from high net worth individuals, family offices and advisers has really ramped up, and that looks set to accelerate with institutional adoption.”
He added: “A spot Bitcoin ETF in Australia isn’t far away, followed by Ethereum and potentially other cryptocurrencies.”
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has awarded preliminary approval for the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), subject to a long list of conditions.
CRYP’s success is mirrored by ProShares‘ Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which was the first Bitcoin futures-based ETF to be launched in the United States. On the first day of the October debut, 24.313 million BITO shares were traded, resulting in a volume of about $1 billion.
Regulators in the United States, on the other hand, look hesitant to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF (which contains actual Bitcoin rather than futures contracts), putting Australia ahead of the game.
Bitcoin futures ETFs, according to McCall, “are an inferior product to spot Bitcoin, with a price that is divorced from the underlying asset.” Hopefully, the regulators here will notice and we will be able to respond quickly.” The Commonwealth Bank of Australia stated earlier this week that it will offer trading of 10 crypto assets on its app, which has 6.5 million active users.
