Cosmos Asset Management delists crypto ETFs despite spruiking by the Fin

Crown Resorts chief Ciaran Carruthers and Crown Sydney’s Mark McWhinnie at the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Well, that didn’t take long. Despite the extravagant fuss over its bitcoin and ethereum ETFs – launched earlier this year – Cosmos Asset Management said on Wednesday it was delisting both products, in a move that seems an obvious reaction to a lack of investor interest.

A third fund, focused on bitcoin miners, would also be withdrawn, the company said.

The news marked a stunning and curious end to what had been billed as a runaway success by our learned friends at the Financial Review, who seemed to enjoy promoting the crypto funds ahead of their debut.

The paper’s senior columnist, Tony Boyd, certainly gave readers the hard sell in the lead-up to their sharemarket landing on May 12, forecasting oceans of liquidity flowing into Cosmos’ Bitcoin Access ETF, the first fund of its kind in Australia.

No less than twice he suggested an expectation of inflows in the galaxy of $1bn, a number orders of magnitude higher than where they actually landed. No harm done; he’s still beloved by the Fin’s loyal readership, even if he can’t pick a winner lately (his predictions for the AFL and NRL grand finals also came up clangers).

Good thing Boyd also (eventually) declared his ownership of shares in Mawson Infrastructure, which until recently owned Cosmos and remains its largest shareholder.

According to its website, the bitcoin ETF held roughly $890,000 in assets under management as of October 31. Its ethereum product attracted $270,000 while the digital mining ETF, launched in September 2021, had a volume of $700,000.

Applications to remove the funds were lodged with Cboe on Wednesday.

While no reasons were cited by Cosmos chief Dan Annan, he conceded the results were disappointing – although he still believes in the asset class.

“From a funds management perspective, we are operating in the best interest of unit holders,” he said. “We are all disappointed with this result. However, we will continue to follow the process in the best interest of all unit holders.”

Finkelstein furore

Yaron Finkelstein appeared in high spirits at Flemington racecourse on Tuesday, where he was sighted with Clubs NSW chief executive Josh Landis inside the Tabcorp tent.

But behind Finkelstein’s back there has been a tremendous amount of skulduggery taking place among moderate elements of the NSW Liberal Party over his appointment as a re-election strategist for Premier Dominic Perrottet.

Perrottet will head to the polls in March, seeking a fourth term in office, and the concern among some Liberals is that Finkelstein, formerly a principal private secretary to Scott Morrison, might bring with him the taint of a federal government still reviled in some quarters. One of which is the seat of Wentworth, where the local Federal Election Committee underwent much bloodletting over the ousting of Liberal incumbent Dave Sharma for Teal independent Allegra Spender.

Yaron Finkelstein enjoying himself at the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Margin Call brought you the findings of the FEC’s report in August. They were signed off by former Waverley Council mayor and Wentworth FEC president Sally Betts, who blamed the loss on the missteps and failures of Morrison himself. Never mind that elements of her own party similarly lay the blame with her.

A prodigious collector of enemies, Betts is a member of the NSW Liberal state executive and an acolyte of another former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. She’s also clearly no fan of Morrison, or Finkelstein for that matter. That much can be established from a series of unkind remarks leaked from a WhatsApp group where Betts spoke a little too freely about Finkelstein and the party’s election prospects with moderate faction allies.

“We are doomed,” she said on Monday. “Yaron Finkelstein (what a rat) going to give strategic advise (sic) to Perrottet. He single handed (sic) stuffed up preselectors in the last election – now he wants ti (sic) destroy NSW to keep his record. This is a disaster.”

It continued: “Thought we had a chance to win in 2023. With Finkelstein’s guiding hand we will lose.”

So much for party unity, let alone fealty. The critique ended with numerous face-palm emojis – they’re easier to deploy than correct spelling and grammar. We wonder how someone as indiscreet as Betts could have ever been seriously touted by Roads Minister Natalie Ward as a prospective NSW Liberal Party president, which is what she was telling people in June.

Not that it matters – Ward is so fond of Betts that she appointed her to two government boards while serving in cabinet as the NSW Seniors Minister.

Contacted for comment, Betts described the messages as having been published on a “private blog” and declined to make any further remarks, at least to us (she certainly let fly on the WhatsApp group once again to voice her displeasure about the leak).

As to what prompted this episode, we gather a weekend news article revealing Finkelstein’s appointment is what set off the crackle of musketry. He starts on Monday.

Smooth as Silk

For any enterprising AFL marketing types who thought they might seek to co-opt the patronage of new, Melbourne-based Crown Resorts boss Ciaran Carruthers to their club’s fold, forget it.

Former AussieSuper boss turned Hawks director Ian Silk, we hear, has already secured the support of the Irishman, who began his new gig with the Blackstone-controlled casino giant at the start of last month.

Never mind the controversy that the 120-year-old, still Jeff Kennett-chaired club finds itself enmeshed in concerning allegations of racism towards its Indigenous players; Silk seems to have given Carruthers little choice but to adopt the Hawks as his local team.

Crown Resorts chief Ciaran Carruthers at Derby Day, Flemington. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Crown Melbourne chair Silk, who is mooted as a potential replacement for Kennett overseeing the show at the Hawks, was straight onto Carruthers in their first meeting, seeking his pledge to don the brown and gold, leaving the new arrival with little choice but to commit.

It’s becoming something of an all-star cast at the Seaford-based club, with retiring former Victorian deputy premier James Merlino running for a seat on the Hawks board at its annual meeting in December.

There will be no Crown sponsorship for the successful club, however, with Carruthers telling Margin Call that he’s unwilling to alienate every other Aussie Rules fan who barracks for one the AFL’s 17 other teams across six states and are all potential Crown customers in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.

A wise move, to be sure.