(Bloomberg) — Australians may have to wait a little longer for the debut of the nation’s first financial products offering direct expose to cryptocurrencies.
Cboe Australia said in a statement Tuesday that “standard checks” prior to the launch of Cosmos Asset Management’s Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF are still being completed and the fund will not commence trading Wednesday as anticipated. 21Shares AG, in partnership with ETF Securities, said its fund listing was also delayed.
The two have been competing to be the first to provide Australians with access to the world of crypto through exchanged-traded products. Cboe Australia, a unit of Cboe Global Markets Inc., said a further update will be provided in coming days.
“We anticipate to launch the product next week” pending a final regulatory green light, Dan Annan, chief executive officer at Cosmos, said in an interview.
“The delay is no fault whatsoever of 21Shares, the funds or the exchange,” a spokesperson from 21Shares told Bloomberg. “As crypto ETFs are completely new to Australia and the infrastructure is being built from the ground up, a service provider downstream needs more time to support the launch. The issue affects all fund managers equally and has caught everyone by surprise.”
Dave Abner, head of business development at cryptocurrency custodian firm Gemini, told Bloomberg it has been a “long road” for product providers and believes the listings will go ahead after some minor tweaking.
“It could be 48 hours. This is not a permanent delayed — it’s minor,” Abner said.
21Shares said it is working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible to remain on track and launch crypto products for Australian investors.
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