coindesk.com
Switzerland’s first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will be available to overseas banks and brokers when trading begins in November, SIX Swiss Exchange told CoinDesk
The precise date has yet to be determined, but once an ETF is listed on SIX, both institutional and retail investors can trade it, Danielle Reischuk, senior ETFs and ETPs (exchange-traded products) sales manager at SIX Swiss Exchange, said.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which approved the Bitcoin Fund ETF (BBIT) on Oct. 20, granting a rare exemption from rules requiring investment funds to spread their money across different assets, allowing it to invest entirely in bitcoin.
The country's financial regulator confirmed that other companies are seeking approval for similar cryptocurrency funds.
A FINMA spokesperson told CoinDesk that bitcoin's long trading history and high trading volumes helped justify the decision, but the approval does not automatically clear the way for ETFs holding other cryptocurrencies, such as ether ETH$2,325.71 or solana (SOL).
The fund will allow ordinary investors in Switzerland to buy shares in a fund that owns bitcoin without having to buy or store the cryptocurrency themselves, BIT Asset Management said in an Oct. 22 statement.
Most bitcoin investment products already traded in Europe are structured as debt issued by financial companies rather than investment funds, BIT Asset Management said. That means investors hold a claim against the company issuing the product, even when it is backed by bitcoin, it added.
BBIT, in contrast, is a regulated investment fund. Its bitcoin holdings are kept separate from the assets of the company managing the fund, offering investors a different level of legal protection if that company runs into financial trouble, the asset manager said.
Switzerland has listed bitcoin investment products for years, but this is its first ETF approved to invest directly in bitcoin and be sold to ordinary investors.
Reischuk said that approximately 90 banks and brokers from Switzerland and abroad participate in the exchange.
“International brokers can access an ETF through SIX either directly as approved trading participants, subject to applicable regulatory and technical requirements, or indirectly through an existing trading participant,” Reischuk said.
That means a bank or broker outside Switzerland can arrange to buy and sell shares in the fund, she said. But whether it can offer those shares to its customers depends on the regulations in the countries where those customers live. BBIT has only been approved for public sale in Switzerland, according to BIT Asset Management. Even Swiss customers may not be able to buy it immediately through their usual banking app, Reischuk added.
