Australian Asset Manager Monochrome Applies With Cboe Australia for a Spot Bitcoin ETF, Eyes Decision By Mid-Year

• The asset manager has taken one step closer to giving Australia its first spot Bitcoin ETF to allow direct holding of bitcoin.

• Monochrome has listed its flagship product, a spot bitcoin ETF, with the global listing exchange, Cboe Australia, instead of ASX, and expects a decision before mid-2024.

Australia-based Monochrome Asset Management has applied for a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange traded fund (ETF) with the global listing exchange, Cboe Australia, the firm announced on Friday.

If approved, the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF could be the first spot bitcoin ETF in Australia which allows direct holding of bitcoin. Australia already has two exchange-traded products providing exposure to spot crypto assets on Cboe Australia but they do not hold bitcoin directly.

The Monochrome Bitcoin ETF is a flagship product of the firm. It could have also been listed with Cboe Australia’s larger rival, ASX, where larger volumes are available. In January 2024, Monochrome Asset Management’s head of legal and compliance Derek Vladimir Henningsen told CoinDesk that they anticipated their bitcoin ETF would be listed in the second quarter of the year.

The announcement said the firm selected Cboe Australia as the listing venue for its bitcoin ETF because it aligns with its strategic goals to work with a market operator with an established reputation, strategic position and expertise across Asia, and broader investor access.

In Australia, unlike the U.S., firms have to first get approval from the regulator, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and then apply to an exchange for listing the product. Monochrome has already got approval from ASX for its product.

“We expect a decision from Cboe Australia about our bitcoin ETF application before the middle of the year,” said Jeff Yew, Monochrome Asset Management CEO.

Cboe Australia is one of five of Cboe Global Markets’ global listings exchanges.