Digital assets firm Gemini are pleased to announce that they’re providing bitcoin custody for a spot bitcoin ETF listed June 4 by Monochrome Asset Management, an Australia-based investment manager that offers access to crypto assets through traditional financial markets.
Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (Ticker: IBTC) is the first Australian spot bitcoin ETF to “hold bitcoin directly under a specific crypto asset Australian Financial Services License.”
IBTC gives retail and institutional investors the opportunity “to invest in bitcoin, which is held in institutional grade custody offered by Gemini Trust Company, LLC.”
IBTC is the first and currently only exchange-traded fund in “the Australian market to be authorized under a specific crypto asset licensing category.”
Prior to IBTC, Australian investors were “only able to invest in ETFs that indirectly hold bitcoin or through offshore bitcoin products, both of which do not benefit from the investor protection rules under the directly held crypto asset AFS licensing regime.”
IBTC implements a passive “buy-and-hold strategy with bitcoin.”
The fund does not implement leverage, derivatives or short-selling. IBTC also “offers in specie redemptions which allows investors to take custody of their bitcoin.”
Gemini serves as a trusted custodian for crypto ETFs worldwide.
As of this writing, Gemini Fund Solutions “custodies $2.7 billion in assets from institutional investors as its trusted source for safekeeping of their crypto assets.”
As a qualified custodian, Gemini meets requirements “outlined by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for being a suitable custody provider for Australian crypto-asset retail product issuers.”
Gemini are now looking forward to continue “supporting Monochrome as they expand crypto access through this historic launch.”
In other updates shared by Gemini, it was noted that in April 2024, The Nifty Gateway team took its first public step in “transitioning from Nifty Gateway Marketplace to Nifty Gateway Studio.”
Nifty Gateway Studio is a Web3 creative studio working with creative minds “to push the boundaries of human experiences and connection through the development of extraordinary creative experiences using blockchain technology.”
This represents a massive shift for Nifty Gateway logistically.
They are overhauling their technical infrastructure to “support this new direction, as well as redesigning the core collector experience.”
But philosophically, it’s an obvious evolution for them “that reflects years of testing and conversations with our audience and partners.”
Going forward, this is what you can expect from Nifty Gateway Studio:
- Creativity: Partnering with visionary artists to bring their most ambitious ideas to life. From strategy to production, promotion, and growth – our commitment is to the long term success of our artists and their creative experiences.
- Innovative blockchain technology: Nifty Gateway Studio engineers working hand in hand with artists to brainstorm, collaborate, and build novel, on-chain experiences for collectors. We see this not just as critical to the creative experiences themselves, but to the continued development and adoption of the broader Web3 space.
- Power of community: Art is inherently social, and we believe a critical component of Nifty Gateway Studio is to foster connections between artists, collectors, and one another. This will play a critical and consistent role in our new user experience.
- Creative experiences are how Nifty Gateway made its mark on this world. Pak’s Merge sold for $91.8M in the largest ever art sale by a living creator. Sam Spratt’s The Monument Game and Refik Anadol’s Machine Hallucinations introduced entirely new ways for audiences to interact with art. Starbucks Odyssey built one of the largest ever on-ramps to Web3.
