Australia Crypto ETF Market Heats Up With Two More Spot Funds Set to Launch

The market for crypto exchange-traded funds in Australia is becoming more crowded, with two spot exchange-traded funds from 21Shares set to launch next week, joining an offering from Cosmos Asset Management.

• 21Shares, which has $2.5 billion in assets under management with 30 global exchange-traded products, has partnered with ETF Securities to launch a bitcoin (BTC) ETF and an ether (ETH) ETF, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
• The products will be the first in Australia to invest directly in the underlying assets. Cosmos Asset Management's ETF invests in the Toronto-based Purpose Bitcoin ETF as opposed to spot bitcoin.
• Both funds will be listed on the Cboe Exchange starting on April 27 with prices being tracked against the Australian dollar.
• The funds will hold bitcoin and ether in cold storage, with Coinbase (COIN) as the custodian.
• The two products give investors a "way of trading crypto in a tightly-regulated environment without having to maintain their wallet and manage risk," said Graham Tuckwell, executive chairman of ETF Securities Australia.
• The introduction of crypto ETFs in Australia prompted criticism of U.S. regulators from VanEck Director Gabor Gurbacs, who labeled the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's conservative stance on listing a bitcoin ETF as "a big loss for investors."