Close
Europe is set to welcome its first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the launch of the Jacobi FT Wilshire Bitcoin ETF on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. This milestone comes more than a year after the fund’s creation in 2022. The London-based digital asset management firm, Jacobi, announced that the ETF will officially launch on August 15, 2023.
The Jacobi Bitcoin ETF is touted as the first physical-backed Bitcoin fund in Europe. This means that investors will have the opportunity to gain exposure to a financial product that is physically backed by Bitcoin. The ETF will trade under the ticker symbol BCOIN and has already received approval from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. Fidelity Digital Asset will be responsible for managing the custody elements of the fund.
In addition to providing investors with access to Bitcoin, Jacobi has also taken steps to address the environmental and social impact of the fund. The company has included a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) in the ETF, which measures the energy consumption of the Bitcoin network. Moreover, the fund purchases and retires RECs to help offset the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.
The BCOIN ETF relies on the FT Wilshire Bitcoin Blended Price Index to instantly obtain current average Bitcoin price data from designated cryptocurrency exchanges. Consequently, investors can participate in the Bitcoin market without the need to directly possess or retain the actual asset.
The first Bitcoin ETF in the European Union
The launch of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF is a significant development in Europe, especially considering that US regulators have yet to approve similar Bitcoin ETF plans from major asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity. Jacobi CEO Martin Bednal highlighted the progressive attitude towards cryptocurrency investment products in Europe as a catalyst for greater adoption. He expressed his excitement about Europe’s role in offering safe and secure access to digital assets for institutional investors through regulated structures like ETFs.
The launch of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF follows the June 2023 launch of the first Bitcoin equity ETF by Melanion Capital on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. Unlike spot ETFs, this fund includes shares of companies heavily invested in Bitcoin holdings, digital currency exchanges, and mining operations. Notable companies included in the fund are MicroStrategy, with over 140,000 bitcoins, as well as major Bitcoin mining companies like Riot, Marathon Digital, and Hut8.
Overall, the introduction of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF and the Bitcoin equity ETF by Melanion Capital signal a significant shift towards increased institutional adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in Europe. These investment products offer a regulated and familiar structure for investors seeking exposure to the benefits of digital assets while considering the environmental and social impact of their investments. As Europe takes a leap ahead of the US in opening up Bitcoin investing to institutional investors, it remains to be seen how regulators in other regions will respond to the growing demand for cryptocurrency investment products.
