ETC Group lists the first cryptocurrency exchange-traded product to be traded on a UK market, while WisdomTree has cross-listed cryptocurrency ETPs on the Euronext exchanges in Paris and Amsterdam.
ETC Group, the specialist provider of innovative securities backed by digital assets, announced that its BTCE bitcoin product will be traded on the Aquis Exchange MTFs in London and Paris from June 7th.
Aquis Exchange becomes the first UK exchange to trade a cryptocurrency ETP (BTCE).
— Water Exchange (@Water_Exchange) June 1, 2021
Alasdair Haynes, CEO of Aquis Exchange, said in a statement, “Investors are increasingly accepting digital assets as a true asset class and giving them a place in balanced investment portfolios.”
Trading takes place in Sterling, Swiss Francs, Euros and US Dollars, while clearing is performed by SIX x-clear as the sole CCP providing central clearing. The product was the first centrally cleared bitcoin ETP on Deutsche Boerse’s XETRA platform in June 2020 and was then listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in January 2021.
Bradley Duke, ETC Group
ETC Group CEO Bradley Duke told Markets Media the company was founded in 2019 and took its time to get approval from BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator.
“We held discussions with Deutsche Boerse even before we formed the company as they said they were interested in listening,” he said. “They have been quite open minded and also have the largest ETP board in Europe and which is the most liquid.”
ETC develops crypto products that can be centrally cleared on a major exchange, are secure, have minimal tracking error and have no hold periods so investors can buy and sell as they please. In addition, ETC also introduced an independent trustee and a third party administrator. Research by ETC found that more than half, 53%, of European professional investors prefer to trade Bitcoin through an ETP.
Duke said, “ETC Group makes products for institutional investors because we understand exchange liquidity and traditional finance. We can provide a platform for this transition between investors who want to access crypto products on a regulated exchange and benefit from decades of regulation that prevent market abuse and money laundering.”
The ETPs are backed by a network of authorized participants and market makers to ensure exchange liquidity and tight spreads.
Duke said, “We take great pride in our liquidity stats and spreads. Investors do not have to worry about market impact and our products are 100% fungible with the underlying.”
In March 2021, ETP launched the first Ethereum ETP on Deutsche Boerse and listed the first Litecoin ETP on Deutsche Boerse the following month. All ETPs are marketed and distributed by HANetf.
ETC Group today listed its ETC Group Physical Litecoin ETC (Ticker: ELTC), the first Litecoin exchange-traded product (ETP) to be traded on Deutsche Boerse. Read about it here: https://t.co/M9LHRrlLel pic.twitter.com/nLo1fS0ge6
— ETC Group (@ETC_Crypto) April 14, 2021
Hector McNeil, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of HANetf, said in a statement, “We are pleased to support ETC Group’s ongoing expansion and launch of its third crypto ETC with the listing of ETC Group Physical Litecoin ETC. The tremendous success of their first product, BTCE, which has surpassed $1 billion in assets in just over seven months since listing, demonstrates the growing demand for products that allow investors to overcome concerns about the technical challenge of buying and selling to avoid storing cryptocurrencies.”
Duke said that ETC launched an Ethereum ETP as that Cryptocurrency has been around for a long time and is the second most traded after Bitcoin. “It’s also a remarkable blockchain with so much development going on and there’s a very ambitious upgrade to Ethereum 2.0,” he added.
He continued that Litecoin has also been around for a long time and has some significant improvements over the Bitcoin blockchain, so many people are using it for payments.
“We will continue to introduce product innovations,” added Duke. “In a short time we have managed to build a brand around safety and serious products for serious people.”
Duke believes institutional investors are here to stay in the crypto space and he’s coming of age, especially with companies like MassMutual and Fidelity joining the fray.
“I really believe that crypto will become a normal part of institutions’ asset allocation as they try to build diversified portfolios, especially as we head into inflationary times,” he said.
Cross Listings
As of June 1, ETC also listed its Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs on the Euronext exchanges in Paris and Amsterdam.
As well as listing #Bitcoin & #Ethereum #ETCs on Euronext exchanges in Paris and Amsterdamhttps://t.co/NtN8rNLUzF pic.twitter.com/TdLdOrWNaT
— ETC Group (@ETC_Crypto) June 1, 2021
The company said its bitcoin and ethereum ETPs were the most liquid in Europe in the first quarter of this year, trading $5.4 billion and $297 million, respectively, on Deutsche Boerse since their inception. ETC’s Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin products were also there of the year listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
“We want to build products and bring them to the investment community where they are,” Duke said. “Many only invest in local markets where they have some confidence.”
We have new listings – with our #Ethereum ETHetc – ETC Group’s Physical Ethereum ETC (Ticker: ZETH) and #Litecoin LTCetc – ETC Group’s Physical Litecoin ETC (Ticker: ELTC) now also on the Swiss stock exchange SIX in USD, CHF and GBP.
Read more here: https://t.co/44jTo1X6pW pic.twitter.com/59biw3nFBf
— ETC Group (@ETC_Crypto) May 26, 2021
This month, WisdomTree, an exchange-traded fund and ETP sponsor, announced that its physically-backed bitcoin and ether ETPs have been listed on the Euronext exchanges in Paris and Amsterdam. You are already listed on the German stock exchange Xetra and SIX.
Jason Guthrie, WisdomTree’s Head of Digital Assets, Europe, said in a statement: “Since we launched our digital assets platform in 2019, we have seen many developments in this space. This milestone represents the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies, the evolving European regulatory landscape and the recent signal that digital assets are here to stay.”
WisdomTree’s digital asset suite has more than $235 million in assets under management, according to the company. Its digital assets are licensed in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
Alexis Marinof, WisdomTree’s Head of Europe, said in a statement: “Since the launch of our first digital asset ETP, we have seen a significant increase in interest from institutional investors. The asset class is still in its infancy, but 2020 has been an important year for the asset class and institutional investors are waking up to the potential that digital assets can bring to portfolios as a diversifier.”
US regulation
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve a Bitcoin ETF.
Gary Gensler, SEC
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee that “there are many challenges and gaps in investor protections in crypto markets.”
In May, Cboe filed Global Markets an SEC filing on behalf of Fidelity Investments seeking approval to list and trade its Bitcoin ETF – Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust. The exchange also filed with the SEC in March to potentially list and trade shares of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust.
According to the Fidelity filing, on June 30, 2016, Cboe filed with the SEC for the first time to list an exchange-traded product to provide exposure to Bitcoin in the United States.
“At the time, blockchain technology and digital assets that leveraged it were relatively new to the general public,” Cboe said. “The market cap of all bitcoin in existence at the time was approximately $10 billion.”
Since then, however, the financial ecosystem for digital assets, including bitcoin, has evolved significantly, and market participants have conducted registered public offerings of both digital asset securities and shares in investment vehicles holding bitcoin futures. Additionally, licensed and regulated service providers have emerged to offer fund custody services for digital assets, among other services, pursuant to the filing.
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