Two more crypto ETFs launch in Australia

Two crypto-backed ETFs launched on Cboe in Australia on Monday, making the total number of crypto ETFs six

  • Published:
  • 08/06/2022 03:37 PM

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Two crypto-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were launched on the Cboe Australia exchange on Monday. The dual launch brings the total number of crypto ETFs available to the Australian traders to six.


Two spot ETFs–the 3iQ CoinShares Ether (ETH), Feeder ETF and the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin (BTC) Feeder ETF–were launched by the Canada-based 3iQ Digital Asset Management.

The 3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF and the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF–these Australian funds get their feed from the firm’s Canadian ETFs listed on the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange).

The holdings of BTC and ETH in cold storage by the Gemini crypto exchange form the underlying assets of the Canadian ETFs.

The 3iQ’s funds are next in line and follow Bitcoin and Ether-backed funds by Cosmos Asset Management and 21Shares. The ETF by Cosmos Asset Management witnessed launch delays in April as one of their service providers–who remain unnamed, needed time to support the launch.

In early May, three ETFs, a Bitcoin ETF by Cosmos and a Bitcoin and Ether ETF by 21Shares, were listed for trading, making them the first crypto ETFs in Australia. On 31 May, Cosmos released another Ether-backed fund.

The underlying assets for Cosmos ETFs, much like 3iQ funds, are direct investments in Ether ETFs and Canadian Purpose Bitcoin. 21Shares, however, backs its funds via Bitcoin and Ether reserves which are held in cold storage by Coinbase.

3iQ poses the lowest expense ratio out of the six at 1.2 percent. This is 0.05 percent lower than Cosmos ETFs and 21Shares, both of which have an expense ratio of 1.25 percent.

The three original funds by Cosmos and 21Shares did not see a very strong start to their trading on their first day of launch. They only witnessed $1.3 million in volume. This volume was strikingly low compared to the expected inflow of $1 billion. Cosmos’ Bitcoin fund received a little over $398,000, while the two 21Shares funds received approximately $936,500.

As per the data collected from Cboe at the time of writing, the two 3iQ ETFs saw a volume of 13,592 and 9754 shares traded of the respective Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. This accounted for respective amounts of around $73,415 and $73,605, amounting to over $147,000, which is a lot less than its competitors.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash