First EU spot Bitcoin ETF hits Euronext Amsterdam exchange
The London-based digital asset management firm announced that its new investment product was going live on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange on Aug. 15, more than a year later than its planned launch in 2022.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the offering was touted as the first spot or physical-backed Bitcoin fund which would allow investors to gain exposure to a financial product that is physically backed by BTC.
The new ETF is set to trade under the BCOIN ticker, while the product was approved by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission back in October 2021. As reported by Blockworks, Fidelity Digital Assets will handle the custodial elements of the BCOIN ETF.
Related: Grayscale Bitcoin ETF decision could happen this week, pundits say
The asset management firm also highlighted the environment and socially friendly nature of the fund, having added a renewable energy certificate (REC) to the ETF.
The fund taps into external data to measure the energy usage of the Bitcoin network, and buys and retires the RECs. The RECs are also accounted for on a blockchain service, which is aimed to allow investors to verify the eco-friendly claims of the fund.
BCOIN makes use of the FT Wilshire Bitcoin Blended Price Index to access real-time average Bitcoin price data from certain cryptocurrency exchanges. The spot ETF allows investors to gain exposure to the Bitcoin market without having direct ownership or custody of the underlying asset.
The launch of the spot Bitcoin ETF marks a milestone for Europe, while United States regulators are yet to permit approval of a number of similar spot Bitcoin ETF applications from major asset managers including BlackRock and Fidelity.
A statement from Jacobi CEO Martin Bednall
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