A new Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been approved in Europe. The development came before U.S. investors received their first Bitcoin futures-linked EFT from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week on Friday afternoon.
On last Friday, October 15, Jacobi Asset management firm in Guernsey, an English crown island, announced that it got approval from regulators to launch a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF.
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission gave Jacobi Asset management approval to launch what it described as the world’s first “Tier 1” Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF).
The founder and CEO of Jacobi, Jamie Khurshid, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, talked about the development and said:
“We are excited to be launching a new secure, transparent, and accessible product to track the performance of Bitcoin. We are a de-risking investment in crypto by removing the technology risk associated with the physical asset and counterparty risk associated with traditional funds or tracker products that are unregulated leverage debt instruments.
“We are proud to collaborate with Europe’s reading regulated firms for a truly tier 1. Offering to service market demand, subject to the necessary regulated approval, this is an exciting moment for Europe as regulatory approval comes ahead of those waiting for a decision from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,” Khurshid added.
Khurshid further explained that “Tier one” means the ecosystem of Tier 1 partners. “We are in the process of listing on a Tier 1 exchange, and all the firms supporting the fund are top tier,” he stated.
Jacobi stated that it plans to list the fund on the pan-European equity exchange Cboe Europe, pending listing approval from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Fidelity digital assets will provide custody for the ETF, which Jacobi describes as a fully regulated crypto-backed financial instrument.
Jacobi Bitcoin investors will benefit from the security of Fidelity Digital Assets, designed to enable its institutional investors to safely secure, trade and support investments in digital assets.
Launched in May 2021, Jacobi intends to shape the future of digital asset management by bringing together expertise from banking, regulation, and Fintech who helps design, issue, and manage institutional crypto products and funds connected to digital assets.
The Jacobi Bitcoin ETF has a $100,000 minimum and is only open to institutions when it launches. The ETF carries a 15% management fee.
Jacobi disclosed that its team has been working on securing regulatory approval for more than nine months. The firm further stated the successful approval now makes the fund the first European ETF wholly invested in Bitcoin, joining only two others worldwide in Brazil and Canada.
While Europe has several firms (such as CoinShares) providing Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs), Jacobi stated that its Bitcoin ETF’s regulated status would set it apart from other products in the market.
In the FAQ section of its website, Jacobi states that ETFs differentiate from ETPs, such as exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) in several aspects, including liquidity, regulation, settlement, and structure.
“None of the ETPs in Europe are regulated because they’re all ETNs. The Jacobi Bitcoin ETF will be the only regulated crypto product and is approved as an ETF,” Khurshid highlighted.
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