After a long delay, Europe gets its first spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange traded fund (ETF), or exchange-traded fund. The bitcoin ETF is facilitated by Jacobi Asset Management, a London-based digital currency asset manager.
Bitcoin spot ETF scoop in Europe
The first European spot bitcoin ETF is a fact. The trade product actually had to launch in July 2022 on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam. However, the launch was postponed due to the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) project at the time. When the huge crypto exchange FTX also went bankrupt not much later, it was uncertain whether the launch of the ETF would continue.
However, interest in spot bitcoin ETFs has increased rapidly in recent times, so the launch will take place at the end of this year. In 2021, the ETF was already approved by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC).
The Jacobi bitcoin ETF gets the exchange sticker BCOIN. A spot bitcoin ETF is an exchange fund with a large amount of bitcoin in storage. By investing in the ETF, you do not buy bitcoin directly, but instead shares of the ETF. If the bitcoin price rises, the BCOIN shares will also rise. For example, institutional investors do not have to keep bitcoin themselves.
Bitcoin Spot ETF Denied By SEC
The ETF is structured differently from the existing ones exchange traded notes (ETNs) of bitcoin in Europe. With an ETN, an investor has a debt instrument instead of a share in the company. ETFs cannot be leveraged and derivatives are not used, which should make them much less susceptible to market manipulation.
As previously written, the application for Jacobi’s spot bitcoin ETF was already approved in Europe in 2021. However, things are very different in the United States. So far, all of the spot bitcoin ETFs have been by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected. Last month was another huge number of applications submittedincluding one by massive asset manager BlackRock.