DigitalX has announced it has received approval to list its DigitalX Bitcoin ETF (ASX: BTXX) on the ASX, with the product set to commence trading on 12 July, marking a “watershed moment” for the firm.
The digital asset technology and investment company said in a statement on Tuesday that its bitcoin ETF will operate “as the only ASX-listed locally-domiciled ETF offering direct exposure to bitcoin”.
The company is getting in the ring alongside global fund managers operating in the space, including Global X and VanEck, with a sense of quiet confidence.
Speaking with InvestorDaily, the CEO of DigitalX, Lisa Wade, emphasised that BTXX was created with a passion to bring to market a product that is “for the people.”
“We’re a microcap, we’re an Australian company, we’ve made it as cheap as physically possible so that everybody can feel like they have ownership over this bitcoin on the ASX. We’ll do the heavy lifting and the work, but we really wanted it to be something for everybody,” Wade said.
“We’ve built an education centre that goes alongside this … So, I really do think of it kind of like as the people’s bitcoin product.”
Wade is aware of DigitalX’s size, telling InvestorDaily that what keeps her awake at night is its small stature compared to its large international competitors.
“And then when I look at the industry and I put my ecosystem hat on, large international players coming into the market, that’s a great thing, because it gives our marketplace credibility,” Wade said.
“So, to be a microcap and to have to stand up next to and even on the shoulders of those giants is quite overwhelming and daunting, but we didn’t want to let that stop us.”
Describing it as a true spot bitcoin ETF that is both affordable and accessible on the ASX, Wade said BTXX gives investors direct ownership, describing this characteristic as “very important”.
“It gives users more security, more ownership rights,” she said.
Wade believes that the democratisation of assets like bitcoin only truly happens when investors are given direct access.
“I look at it as if you buy our ETF, you have direct ownership into bitcoin and you don’t have to have your own wallet, you don’t have to worry about any of that stuff. We’re worrying about that stuff, and that stuff is very expensive and we wanted to make it very cheap for everybody,” the CEO said.
Describing herself as a “portfolio geek” due to her extensive experience as a portfolio manager, Wade said she has always maintained the belief that crypto adds alpha to a portfolio.
“The pay to play is quite high if you’re thinking about the expensive security around cold storage wallets and that’s the only way to trade safely, so we really wanted to share that expertise with people,” she said.
Last month, VanEck became the first fund manager to list its spot bitcoin ETF on the ASX, marking the exchange’s inaugural bitcoin ETF.
InvestorDaily previously covered the competition for Australia’s first bitcoin ETF, which has become fairly intricate following the launch of several bitcoin ETFs in Australia this year.
Global X was first to enter the market back in 2022, when it listed both a bitcoin ETF and an Ethereum ETF on Cboe. Monochrome was next, listing a bitcoin ETF (IBTC) on Cboe in June, a few weeks before VanEck announced it was listing its product VBTC on the ASX.
DigitalX is the latest firm to join this group and the latest to assert its claim to the first-to-market title, a claim that hinges on the structure of its product.
Monochrome’s CEO, Jeff Yew, explained to InvestorDaily last month that “we have three types of bitcoin ETFs” in Australia.
Type A, he said, is the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC), which holds bitcoin directly under a retail crypto asset AFSL authorisation. InvestorDaily understands that DigitalX now joins this category.
Type B, Yew elaborated, is Global X’s EBTC, which holds shares in an unlisted wholesale fund that buys bitcoin, and type C is VanEck’s VBTC, which holds shares in a US-domiciled master fund that holds bitcoin.
Back in April, DigitalX said it is eyeing the first spot bitcoin ETF listing on the ASX, but at the time declined to provide additional details when InvestorDaily inquired about its application status with the ASX.
On its website, DigitalX says it’s “the only ASX-listed company that holds bitcoin as a core Treasury asset and is an investor in both of the DigitalX funds”.
