Aussie ETFs Go Live Amidst Another Crypto Meltdown

Key Insights:

• Three Australian crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF) started trading on  Thursday.
• The launch comes amidst a crypto market meltdown that saw $290 billion wiped out.
• The Products were due to begin trading on April 27.

Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF) hit the news this week, as interest in crypto-related products grows. This week, bitcoin and ether investment products hit the Australian market.

The rise in crypto-related products comes despite increased regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty stemming from the ongoing SEC v Ripple case, which could materially impact the crypto market.

This week, regulatory scrutiny intensified due to a crypto market meltdown stemming from the de-pegging of TerraUSD (UST) from the dollar.

On Wednesday, the total crypto market cap fell by $149 billion. The slide left the total market cap down $249 billion for the current week.

Despite the crypto market angst, products continue to go live.

Australian Exchange-Traded Funds Begin Trading after Brief Delay

This morning, three crypto exchange-traded funds went live.

Cosmos Asset Management launched Cosmos-Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF, with ETF Securities behind the launch of 21Shares Bitcoin and ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETFs.

The three will track the performances of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).

Cosmos-Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF (CBTC): Provides an investment return (before fees, costs, and tax) that approximately tracks the performance of the USD denominated ETF non-currency hedged units in the Purpose Bitcoin ETF.

The Purpose Bitcoin ETF is quoted on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and offers investors the opportunity for long-term capital appreciation through the long-term holdings of Bitcoin.

Cosmos Asset Management collaborated with Cboe to launch CBTC.

ETFS 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC): EBTC tracks the performance of the price of Bitcoin in Australian dollars before fees and expenses. The EBTC benchmark is the ‘CryptoCompare’s Crypto Coin Comparison Aggregated Index (Bitcoin).’

ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETF (EETH): EETH tracks the performance of the price of ether, which is the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, in Australian dollars before fees and expenses. The EETH benchmark is the ‘CryptoCompare’s Crypto Coin Comparison Aggregated Index (Ethereum).’

ETF Securities collaborated with 21Shares to deliver the two products to market.

The launch follows the rollout of several crypto-related products in 2022. In April, Fidelity Investments launched a digital asset and a Web3 ETF, with ProShares launching its metaverse-focused ProShares Vers ETF in March.

For investors targeting the new Aussie crypto-linked products, it has been a tough week for the crypto market.

Crypto Market Faces Another Day of Losses on Launch Day

On Wednesday, bitcoin fell by 6.44%. Reversing a 3.11% gain from Tuesday, bitcoin ended the day at $29,017.

At the time of writing, bitcoin was down by 1.17% to $28,677.

Ether slid by 11.27% to end the day at $2,078 on Wednesday. On Tuesday, ether found a brief respite, rising by 4.98% before resuming the pullback.

This morning, Ether fell by 3.05% to $2,014, with resistance at $2,000 proving pivotal.

Both face a possible third daily loss from four sessions after seeing current year lows this week.

Interest in the Aussie launch will likely be high. However, investors may sit on the sidelines until bitcoin and ether show signs of bottoming out.