Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs on the London Stock Exchange
2 min readInvestors in the UK can now trade exchange-traded products tracking Bitcoin and Ethereum on the London Stock Exchange, closing the gap with other leading financial institutions in the digital asset space.
The move comes after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved the first exchange-traded crypto products from issuers such as WisdomTree and 21Shares last week.
21Shares announced that it launched four new physically-backed crypto exchange traded notes (ETNs) on Tuesday. The offerings include: 21Shares Bitcoin ETN, 21Shares Ethereum Staking ETN, 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETN and the 21Shares Ethereum Core ETN.
Competitor WisdomTree has also entered the race with two physically backed ETPs: WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin and WisdomTree Physical Ethereum ETFs.
The listings of both issuers and Invesco Digital Markets were published on an FCA website with approvals on 28 May .
FCA restrictions limit London Stock Exchange’s crypto ETF market
Despite holding Bitcoin or Ether directly, these new crypto products are restricted to professional investors only under FCA regulations . This stricter approach contrasts with the US, where recently approved Bitcoin ETFs collectively manage 59 billion USD. That’s almost five times the total cryptocurrency trading volume in Europe.
Nevertheless, Alex Pollak, head of the UK division at 21Shares, predicts that the UK will be the leading crypto ETF market in Europe within three years. In his opinion, the key to the country’s success is allowing ordinary investors to trade these products.
Earlier this month, Alun Cairns, a Conservative UK MP, called on the FCA to review its ban on crypto ETNs for retail investors, expressing concern about the country’s backward position and saying it was depriving the general public of opportunities.
The US surprises the market with the early approval of spot Ethereum ETFs
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light to Ethereum spot ETFs last week, marking a dramatic turnaround for the market as analysts had not expected approval to be granted as early as May.
