28.03.2024

Australian Regulator Gives Green Light to App-Based Retail Bitcoin Fund

The Raiz app allows users to invest the small change left over from everyday purchases in exchange traded funds quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Once live (expected sometime in H1 2020), the bitcoin option will still see the bulk of user funds go to ETFs, but 5 percent will be allocated to the cryptocurrency, according to the report.

Australia’s finance watchdog has given the go-ahead to a bitcoin fund aimed at retail investors.

The first such fund in the country, the bitcoin offering is being launched by micro-investment app provider Raiz Invest Australia, reports The Australian Financial Review.

Raiz was granted relief to operate the fund from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which also has oversight over the crypto industry in the country.

The Raiz app is said to have had over 600,000 users and revenue of over A$3 million (US$2.06 million) in 2019, according to Wikipedia.

ASX-listed DigitalX also offers a bitcoin fund in Australia, however, that’s aimed at professional investors. The firm seeded the fund with half its bitcoin holdings, DigitalX announced at the launch in November 2019.

Bitcoin News Summary – November 4, 2019

Bitcoin futures exchange, BitMEX accidentally compromised user privacy, when it sent out a mass email to clients revealing all their email addresses to each another. Shortly after BitMEX warned its users about the email leak, hackers briefly took over its Twitter account too. The exchange claims, that although its Twitter account was hacked, all user funds are safe. If you’re a BitMEX client and received the email, you should be especially cautious regarding any messages you receive in the future, especially at your leaked email address.

As Argentina’s fiat currency struggles, the country’s central bank banned the purchase of Bitcoin or other cryptos via credit cards. The central bank says the only legal method of purchase is via bank transfer. Argentinians were also recently restricted to purchasing a maximum of $200 US Dollars fiat currency per month.

Venezuela’s lack of reliable power and even internet access has spurred the invention of the “Locha Mesh” project, a system for using Bitcoin over a radio network which can connect to a Blockstream satellite if no internet node is reachable. These devices allow Bitcoin transactions using the Lightning network even during a blackout period.

France’s Education Ministry will introduce cryptocurrency into the curriculum of high school students in the new year. France will become the first nation to teach about crypto in its public schools.

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