According to a report from Business Insider, the Securities and Investment Commission of Australia has assured fund managers who are looking to start BTC spot exchange-traded funds for approval.
The application process for exchange-traded funds in Australia has begun as most funds showed interest in launching one. However, after different consultations with diverse experts in the crypto industry, regulators have come up with new guidelines for the market and a more comprehensive draft on what is required from funds to get a Bitcoin ETF approval.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission wrote in a statement that they are well aware of the demands and the interest of people in ETFs and other products that makes the crypto space more accessible to Australians.
The main requirement as stated for the fund managers is the appointment of a BTC Custodial expert whose job description will be to ensure the safe and secure custody of the digital assets.
However, the safe and secure custody of digital assets as stated by the ASIC statement includes the proper storage of the BTC private keys in air-tight cold storage through some wallets that has huge and robust physical practices of security. As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the redundant backup of the mnemonic phrases in separate locations geographically is also a requirement.
Another requirement for launching an EFT is a minimum of $10 million in funds in net tangible assets together with strict adherence to the obligations that come with pricing and risk management.
The regulators also spoke on the reasons why BTC will be one of the two assets to be approved. In a statement, it said the essence of this proposal is the recognition of the variation attached to the features, risks, modus operandi, and characteristics, and consideration is given to the ones that seem appropriate for an investment scheme in the country.
This news from the Australian regulators came in just a week after the news of the BTC futures ETFs launch by ProShares and Valkyrie in the United States. Several investors in the United States are anticipating a BTC Spot ETF’s approval, which they consider a safer way to hop onto the moving train of the crypto space.
Considering this, the launch of spot exchange-traded funds in Australia is a great move in encouraging the adoption of cryptocurrency and educating investors especially the traditional ones.
