The ASX Clear has approved Cosmos Asset Management’s bitcoin ETF.

A bitcoin ETF could debut Down Under following its approval by ASX Clear, the country’s primary clearinghouse for capital markets. Four market participants (one retail, four institutional) agreed to stump up the hefty 42% margin required for settlement risks. A seven-day notice period now kicks in, and at the end of that, the bitcoin ETF from Cosmos Asset Management could begin trading as early as April 27 on Cboe’s Australian trading venue. (Blockworks)

ASX Clear’s chief risk officer, Hamish Treleaven, said that the ASX now has “our minimum number of clearing participants, and that means we are good to go.”

According to an AFR report, the Cosmos bitcoin ETF is actually a “fund-of-funds,” because it will invest in bitcoin by buying shares of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (TSE: BTCC.B), North America’s first bitcoin ETF that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Canada. Cosmos partnered with Purpose in February this year.

Cosmos has two existing funds – the Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF (CXA: DIGA), which trades on Cboe Australia with net assets of $2.1 million, and the unlisted Bitcoin Wholesale Access Fund. Cosmos is owned by Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner Mawson Infrastructure Group.

The new bitcoin ETF could meet with a bumper response from Aussie investors looking for exposure to the leading cryptocurrency without assuming the risks of owning it physically. By one estimate, as much as A$1 billion could flow into the fund.

The Australian market regulators appear to be far more sanguine about the so-called market risks of approving a spot bitcoin ETF than their US counterparts. The latter has steadfastly rejected all applications for a spot bitcoin ETF, preferring instead to greenlight two futures-based bitcoin ETFs.

Related Story: America’s Neighbour To The North Clears The Purpose Bitcoin ETF