Switzerland-based investment product provider 21Shares is launching a bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in the U.K. on the Aquis Exchange Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) mid-June.
- 21Shares, formerly known as Amun, said the product will launch mid-June and is in partnership with the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) firm GHCO, which will act as the liquidity provider for the bitcoin ETP.
- The ETP will be cleared and “engineered like an ETF,” and will give institutional investors in the U.K. exposure to bitcoin through a regulated framework and structure to which they are already accustomed, said the firm in a press release.
- So far, the U.K. has been taking a cautious approach to approving crypto products. In January the Financial Conduct Authority banned the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes, describing the products to be ill-suited for retail consumers citing potential harm.
- “We have been working alongside 21Shares for months on this project. We are pleased to be able to respond to institutional demand in the U.K. for digital assets in this way,” said Alasdair Haynes, the CEO of Aquis Exchange.
- ETC Group will also be making its cryptocurrency ETP available today to U.K. investors on the Aquis Exchange MTF. The clearing will be carried out by Switzerland-based central counterparty clearing house SIX x-clear.
- On June 1, 21Shares – along with WisdomTree, VanEck, and the ETC Group – listed ETPs on the Euronext Paris and Amsterdam stock exchange.