Launch of Australia's First Bitcoin ETF Gets Postponed

The launch of Australia's first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been delayed, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.

As reported by U.Today, April 27 was supposed to be a historic day for Australia's financial markets because of the Bitcoin ETF debut. Cosmos Asset Management's Bitcoin ETF was supposed to go live at 10:30 a.m. local time after obtaining approval from the Australia Securities Exchange (ASX).

The product was expected to attract more than $1 billion worth of inflows, replicating the success of Bitcoin ETF debuts in other countries.

However, the much-anticipated launch of the ETF has now been postponed indefinitely.

 Cboe Australia claims that "standard checks" are still being completed. An unnamed third-party broker is reportedly stalling the listing.

It is worth noting that Cosmos's yet-to-be-launched ETF does not offer direct exposure to Bitcoin. Instead, it opted to track the shares of Canada's Purpose Bitcoin ETF, a decision that reportedly allowed it to race ahead of competitors.

Cosmos, which was founded by cryptocurrency miner Mawson Infrastructure Group, already has existing products. Last year, it issued the Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF.

Other fund managers, who have been working on competing products, will also have to face temporary delays.

As reported by U.Today, Australia recently made major steps toward regulating the cryptocurrency industry. Last week, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) unveiled its policy roadmap for crypto assets.

There are already spot cryptocurrency ETFs in Canada and Brazil. European investors can also invest in a slew of crypto-backed exchange-traded products (ETPs). The U.S. approved futures-based Bitcoin ETFs in late 2021.