Bit by Bitcoin: How Monochrome is reshaping finance

Monochrome Asset Management is making digital assets more accessible with the lowest management fees in Australia. Chief commercial officer Bridget Nichols says the goal is to unlock new possibilities for a “broad range of people” tired of the economic status quo.

“Don’t listen to anyone who tells you it can’t be done.”

That’s the advice of Monochrome’s chief commercial officer, Bridget Nichols. After watching long-held financial ‘truisms’ falter and derided cryptocurrencies soar to brain-boggling levels, Nichols has thrived on defying economic expectations.

Today, there is simultaneously more uncertainty and more opportunity than ever before, and Nichols wouldn’t have it any other way. “Volatility is actually an advantage for investors,” she says.

Nichols, a financial markets trailblazer, is speaking as someone who has seen economics from a variety of angles. She has been involved in the launch of 25 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and four financial markets businesses. After two decades at the vanguard of the ASX, Chi-X, and global institutional banks, her focus has shifted from the established to the counter-culture models, and she has remained a step ahead of financial trends.

“I’ve tended to do projects at the cutting edge of exchange and financial markets builds,” says Nichols. “I guess I’ve got a strong belief that traditional financial systems are going to be wholesale reinvented over the next five years, and I wanted to be at the forefront of that change.”

Along with Jeff Yew (founder and CEO of Monochrome) and Grayson McLeod (COO), Nichols and the team are leading the charge for Australia’s first exchange-traded funds to hold Bitcoin and Ethereum directly: the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) and the Monochrome Ethereum ETF (IETH). The move represents a significant pivot from her legal and institutional roots, from Nine Mile Trading to UBS, towards a “business build” aligned with the digital future.

Plainly, Monochrome shares Nichols’ philosophies, and the strategy is paying off. By targeting plucky investors, self-managed super funds, and institutions with the lowest management fees in the country, the firm’s IBTC fund successfully raised $200 million last year and reached its peak assets under management in October 2025. Nichols says that’s only the beginning for Monochrome.

“The reason why we’re priced the lowest in the market is we want to make the investment accessible to a broad range of people,” Nichols says. “Our North Star is that we want to be the biggest Bitcoin ETF manager in Australia. We think we’ll pop up as number two this year, and then we’ve got a bit of a way to go to number one. I think that’s a two-year plan.”

At the heart of Monochrome’s offering is a commitment to the core principles of the digital asset class: transparency and control. Unlike many other products in the Australian market, Monochrome utilises a “bare trust” structure. This framework provides investors with a direct entitlement to the underlying Bitcoin or Ethereum.

The practical advantage is significant. Investors can deposit or withdraw the underlying cryptocurrency into and out of the ETF, preserving the autonomy that’s characteristic of the digital asset space.

“One of the key pillars of Bitcoin ownership is control, divorced from government and banking interference,” Nichols says. “The ‘bare trust’ structure we have, where the investor has a direct entitlement to the Bitcoin, is the closest to Bitcoin ownership you can get in a regulated structure. This means if that investor wants to move that Bitcoin, they can take it out of the ETF and into their own storage without triggering a capital gains event, because they owned that Bitcoin the whole time.”

Bringing this regulated framework to the Australian market required extensive education with regulators and exchanges. Of the six Bitcoin ETFs available in Australia, Monochrome’s structure is a rarity. Nichols said the most comprehensive reviews centred on custody of the underlying assets and technology security risks.

To address this, Monochrome partnered with specialist, insured custodians to ensure investor assets meet strict ASIC crypto-asset guidelines and SMSF trustee operating standards. Backed by a team with experience at BlackRock, Binance Australia, and traditional funds management, the firm delivers the institutional protection needed to scale digital asset adoption safely.

“The more exciting thing is the future of digital finance,” she says. “Soon, we won’t be in a world where investments take time to settle. You’ll be able to do everything from your phone, and a digital wallet, and everything will work seamlessly.”

To get there, Nichols knows what has to be done, and she’s doing it at Monochrome, regardless of what bank card-carrying sceptics say.

Monochrome Asset Management Pty Ltd ABN 80 647 701 246 (Monochrome) is a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR No. 1286428) of Vasco Trustees Ltd ABN 71 138 715 009 | AFSL 344486 (Vasco Trustees). Monochrome is the Investment Manager for the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) (ARSN 661 385 244). Vasco Trustees is the Responsible Entity and the issuer of interests in IBTC. The PDS and TMD for each product are available at https://monochrome.au/ and should be considered prior to investing.

This information is general in nature and does not take into account any person’s individual objectives, financial situation or needs. In deciding whether to acquire interests in IBTC and before investing, investors should read the PDS and TMD, and with the assistance of a financial adviser, consider if the investment is appropriate for their circumstances. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Visit Monochrome here to discover their approach to providing regulated, direct Bitcoin exposure for Australian investors.