Cosmos Asset Management is looking to delist two of its cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from the Cboe stock exchange in Australia owing to the downturn in digital assets that started at the end of last year.
Cosmos, based in Sydney, intends to delist its Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF (CBTC) and Purpose Ethereum Access ETF (CPET), with a combined asset value of about A$1.1 million ($710,000). Launched with much fanfare, the investment firm’s bitcoin ETF was the first crypto fund to be listed on Cboe when it debuted in April. “Trading on the funds will continue to be halted pending the outcome of the application to Cboe,” said a letter by Hollie Wight, company secretary.
“While we strongly believe in the asset class, we are all disappointed with this result; however, we will continue to follow the process in the best interest of all unit holders,” Dan Annan, CEO at Cosmos and former BlackRock executive, wrote in an email, according to Bloomberg.
Since bitcoin’s all-time high of $67,553 on Nov. 10, 2021, the asset has fallen nearly 70 percent, to currently trade at $20,453, as of Nov. 1, 2022. Ethereum has similarly fallen over 67 percent, and is trading at just over $1,560. Digital assets have lost a combined $2 trillion in value over 12 months, and has dulled investor interest in the segment.
Going Back to Mining
Mawson Infrastructure, the owner of Cosmos, disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company suffered an impairment relating to its Cosmos subsidiary of $US1.1 million during the six months to June 30, 2022. Following this, Mawson transferred ownership of the asset to a third party.“We recognise that ETFs are a scale business and a long game,” Mr James Manning, chief executive of Mawson, told the Australian Financial Review. “We didn’t want to be in that long game, and it made sense for us to exit.” The company plans on focusing on its core bitcoin mining and infrastructure operations.
At the moment, Mawson operates bitcoin-mining facilities in New South Wales, Australia, and Texas, Georgia, and Pennsylvania in the United States.
Mawson, which is listed on Nasdaq, has lost over 93 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, and is currently trading at $0.44. At its height, Mawson was trading at $16.49 per share, on Nov. 3, 2021.
Decades-high inflation and elevated energy prices have also dealt a blow to the crypto mining industry.
“There are a lot of different issues in motion. Obviously, the global recession is looming, on top of inflation and rising prices of electricity,” Christopher Perceptions, founder of PerceptForm and CEO of NoCodeClarity, told TechCrunch.
