A crypto-themed ETF has had the most successful launch in ASX history, eclipsing the record for the most debut inflows in less than an hour of trade.

Betashares’ Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX:CRYP) invests in listed companies in the crypto economy, such as exchanges, Bitcoin miners and infrastructure companies.

It had attracted more than $8 million within 45 minutes of launch, beating the local bourse’s previous daily record of $5.2 million, set in September 2020 by an ETF that invests in semiconductor manufacturers.

The ETF was the result of more than six months of work between Betashares and the ASX, the company said.

“In thinking about the process that the two teams had to navigate to get to this position today, only one word comes to mind – duck,” ASX listings executive Mark Cunningham said at the bell-ringing ceremony this morning.

“The best things in life, though come to those who wait,” he added.

It’s Betashare’s 69th ETF to list on the ASX since the company’s first one was launched in 2010. A few have shut down but the 64 that remain account for $20 billion in funds.

“Our job has been to continue to democratise investments, making them more accessible, making them cost-effective, and bringing those exposures in a regulated, familiar, easy-to-access structure,” Betashares founder and CEO Alex Vynokur told Stockhead.

“Investment in digital assets is still in early stages, relative to what we expect the market to be, when we reach we reach more widespread adoption.”

The exchange-traded fund aims to track the Bitwise Crypto Innovators Index. Its holdings include Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), the leading US crypto exchange; Silvergate Capital (NYSE:SIL), which provides banking services to crypto exchanges; and Riot Blockchain, (NASDAQ:RIOT) a Bitcoin mining company.

Its biggest holding is Galaxy Digital (TO:GLXY), the crypto investment company founded by sidelined Wall Street legend Mike Novogratz.

With the Australian Securities and Investments Commission this week giving the green light to Bitcoin and Ethereum “spot” ETFs, Vynokur expected Betashares to offer a crypto-asset ETF “in the coming months,” but added it was hard to be more specific.

He noted that Betashares has hundred of thousands of customers, “and for traditional investors, the convenience of an ETF, you don’t have to deal with passwords that you might forget, that you are dealing with a trusted ecosystem, you’re dealing with regulated counterparties, is quite important.”

There are also of tens of thousands of financial advisors who’d like to be able to offer clients exposure to digital assets, something an ETF provides.

On crypto markets, Bitcoin was holding steady above $US62,000 in overnight trade, with Ethereum trading just shy of the recent all-time highs it struck earlier this week.