Local fund managers ETF Securities and Cosmos Asset Management are expected to tie the race to list a historic cryptocurrency-backed exchange traded fund in Australia next week after the ASX’s clearing house belatedly gave the much-anticipated product launches its blessing.

ASX Clear, a powerful subsidiary of the Australian Securities Exchange tasked with overseeing the sharemarket’s financial stability, will begin clearing ETFs invested in large cap cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ether (the token linked to the ethereum blockchain) from April 27.