Bitcoin futures trading company XBT Investments heads for the ASX

Investors who are unsure of how to buy or manage their own cryptocurrencies will have an easy way to be exposed to the volatile asset class, with the first bitcoin investment company readying to list on the ASX this quarter.

The float of XBT Investments, which has a management agreement with BitFunds, will invest in bitcoin futures rather than own the cryptocurrency outright. This enables it to overcome the ASX’s listing rules which do not permit pure cryptocurrency investment companies.

The listing comes as bitcoin starts the new year trading lower for the first time since 2015, having fallen from almost $18,000 to less than $17,300.

The slide comes on the back of bitcoin dropping more than 30 per cent in a week in the lead-up to Christmas, but it is still trading significantly above its 2017 starting price of around $US1000.

XBT managing director Jason Davis told The Australian Financial Review he was not concerned about the recent volatility affecting investor sentiment in the lead up to the initial public offering.

“It’s entirely usual. It’s fallen 90 per cent several times and then recovered to jump thousands of per cent,” he said.

“The only difference now is that people know about it. Looking at the history of bitcoin the volatility has been falling through time, as are the returns, believe it or not.”

XBT is raising a minimum of $30 million through the float at $1 per share and will lodge its prospectus mid-next week.

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Source: Bitcoin futures trading company XBT Investments heads for the ASX | afr.com