Crypto winter spurs delisting of bitcoin, ether ETFs in Australia

A clutch of crypto exchange-traded funds launched with much fanfare in Australia are headed for delisting, becoming the latest casualties of the this year’s digital-asset rout.

The management teams behind the Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF, Cosmos Purpose Ethereum Access ETF and Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF applied to revoke their quotations on the exchange run by Cboe Australia Pty.

Cosmos Asset Management was part of the race to roll out the first crypto ETFs in Australia earlier this year. But a $2 trillion slump in digital assets over roughly the 12 months has dulled investor ardor for virtual coins.

“While we strongly believe in the asset class, we are all disappointed with this result, however, we will continue to follow the process in the best interest of all unit holders,” Dan Annan, chief executive at Cosmos, wrote in an email.

The Cosmos Bitcoin and Ethereum funds, which feed into Toronto-listed funds run by Purpose Investments, have total assets of about A$1.1 million ($710,000). The miners vehicle, an equity portfolio, has about A$630,000.

The Global X Bitcoin and Ether funds continue to be available in Australia and have a combined market value of roughly A$8.5 million.

The bulk of crypto exchange-traded product assets, about 83%, are housed in the US, followed by Europe with 16%, according data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. Most of the remainder is in Brazil and the Asia-Pacific region hardly figures at all.

“Australia’s hope of becoming Asia’s crypto hub now diminishes, especially after Hong Kong just announced a pathway for Bitcoin and Ether ETFs,” said Rebecca Sin, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Hong Kong this week unveiled a sweeping policy revamp that allows for futures-based crypto ETFs as it seeks to become a virtual-asset center in Asia.

© 2022 Bloomberg