Europe’s first bitcoin ETF launches after delaying for a year
Jacobi Asset Management, a London-based asset investment platform, is ready to launch Europe’s first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) after a year of delays.
The bitcoin ETF was originally announced to list on Euronext Amsterdam in July 2022 but was postponed due to the timing not being right in the market.
Bitcoin ETF back on track in Europe
The bitcoin ETF was initially approved by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) to launch in October 2021, granting it the ability to trade on traditional stock markets in jurisdictions outside of the United States.
The asset manager’s launch announcement was delayed due to the terra (LUNA) crash in May 2022 and FTX’s collapse in November 2022.
However, the fund is now on track to launch this July as demand has shifted.
A Financial Times article highlights that all digital assets exchange-traded products so far have been structured as exchange-traded notes rather than funds in Europe.
This means each ETF owns a portion of a fund’s underlying shares.
In the case of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF, the financial instrument is centrally cleared and supported by Fidelity Digital Assets and is designed slightly differently from an exchange-traded note (ETN), which can’t use derivatives or be leveraged.
Alongside the United States
At the same time, spot bitcoin ETFs in the United States are still being reviewed.
BlackRock Inc., the first in a slew of American firms attempting to release their own ETF, refiled paperwork with US regulators with additional detail last week.
It included the submission of new documents with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) highlighting Coinbase Global would provide monitoring.
Crypto marketing surveillance is believed to be the missing piece for gaining this level of approval and was arguably one of the top reasons the agency has failed to approve a spot bitcoin ETF application.
Although the United States has rejected every application to date, a positive move in Europe might provide some clarity for American institutions looking to follow Jacobi’s lead, spurring on market optimism for the SEC approving a fund of this type.
