The Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] recently green-flagged WisdomTree, 21Shares, and Invesco to list Exchange-Traded products [ETPs] - investing in spot Bitcoin and Ethereum - on the London Stock Exchange [LSE]. They are expected to go live today.
Only Professional Investors To Get Access
The products cannot be accessed by retail users. Only professional investors can trade them, owing to the regulatory body’s ruling that deemed this asset class to be ill-suited for retail consumers.
The FCA approval of our crypto ETPs’ prospectus is a significant step forward for the industry and UK-based professional investors seeking exposure to the asset class. Alexis Marinof, head of Europe at WisdomTree highlighted that could end up being a blessing in disguise and result in greater institutional adoption of the asset class. He pointed out that many professional investors have been unable to gain exposure to Bitcoin and crypto assets owing to regulatory limitations and uncertainty. Now, instead of resorting to overseas exchanges to get exposure to such products, these professional investors now have a “more convenient access point.” WisdomTree’s products will charge a fee of 35 basis points from investors.
The three firms in the equation were also among the first ones who got their spot ETF approved from the US Securities and Exchange Commission in January this year. More recently, the agency also approved all the Ether ETF applications on its table. On both occasions, the crypto community was quite hyped and celebrated the approvals. However, when it comes to LST listings, there hardly seems to be any sort of fanfare. Crypto macro analyst Noelle Acheson noted in a recent post,
“Surprisingly little fanfare about tomorrow’s listing of BTC and ETH ETFs on the London Stock Exchange. Ok, they’re only open to professional investors, which limits the market. But still, there should be some interest. Maybe the almost zero excitement could mean a positive surprise?”
