The announcement comes the same day as ETC Group’s Bitcoin ETP began trading on the same exchange.
Switzerland-based 21Shares, formerly known as Amun, has said it will make its Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded product available to traders in the United Kingdom through the Aquis Exchange.
According to an announcement from 21Shares, its Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) will be available to professional investors on the Aquis Exchange this summer. U.K.-based firm GHCO will be acting as the crypto ETP’s liquidity provider, with 21Shares saying the product would be “engineered like an [exchange-traded fund].”
“ETPs trade on exchanges in a similar manner to a listed stock and institutional investors in the U.K. will get exposure to Bitcoin via a regulated framework and structure which they are already accustomed to,” said 21Shares. “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.”
21Shares reported more than $1.5 billion in assets under management across 14 ETPs available on European stock exchanges. One unit of the firm’s Bitcoin ETP on Aquis will reportedly represent exposure to 0.00035 BTC, or roughly $12.54 at the time of publication.
A few companies have begun expanding their crypto products to the U.K. market. Also on Monday, crypto investment manager ETC Group’s Bitcoin ETP began trading on the Aquis Exchange in London and Paris. However, the country’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, banned the sale of crypto derivatives to retail traders in January.
