21shares to Launch Bitcoin ETP for Institutional Investors in the UK

Switzerland-based 21shares announced it’s going to offer its crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) to institutional investors in Britain. The platform said the aim is to provide U.K. investors with exposure to bitcoin without the need to deal with crypto custody and security.

New Bitcoin ETP to Be Offered on London-Based Aquis Exchange

The 21shares bitcoin ETP (ABTC) will be made available through a partnership with GHCO, a leading market maker and liquidity provider that specializes in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It will be listed on Aquis Exchange, a multilateral trading platform based in London and Paris. The exchange facilitates stock trading across 15 European markets.

The ETP is engineered like an ETF and will be centrally cleared, 21shares detailed in a press release on Monday. As ETPs trade on exchanges similarly to stocks, institutional investors in the U.K. will be facing a regulated framework and structure to which they are already accustomed to. The Swiss company further elaborated:

The ETP has been designed to provide institutional U.K. investors with secure and cost-effective exposure to Bitcoin without the associated Bitcoin custody and security challenges.

UK Launch to Follow Debut on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam

The bitcoin ETP will be offered in the United Kingdom this summer, following successful launches on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam on June 1, 21shares revealed. One unit of the ETP represents exposure to roughly 0.00035 bitcoin entitlement, the crypto firm added. Its chief executive Hany Rashwan was quoted stating:

This is the right time to bring our successful crypto ETP to the institutional U.K. market. Our strong track record and existing institutional reach across continental Europe means that investors can confidently gain exposure to Bitcoin via a liquid and conventional investment product.

Institutional investors will have access to ample liquidity provided by GHCO which is an authorized participant in the offering.

“GHCO has been actively trading ETFs and recently started quoting crypto ETPs. It has an unrivaled track record in quoting the tightest spreads, a key demand for institutional investors,” 21shares pointed out.

Zug-headquartered 21shares is a leading crypto ETP issuer with over $1.5 billion in assets under management across 14 ETPs listed on several European stock exchanges. The company has already offered cryptocurrency ETPs for institutional investors in Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, and the Netherlands. In March, 21shares launched bitcoin cash (BCH) and ethereum (ETH) ETPs on Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra.

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