XBT Provider announced two Ethereum exchange-traded notes on Nasdaq Stockholm on October 11th, bringing a new path for European investors to access cryptocurrency exposure. The two instruments, Ether
XBT Provider announced two Ethereum exchange-traded notes on Nasdaq Stockholm on October 11th, bringing a new path for European investors to access cryptocurrency exposure. The two instruments, Ether Tracker One and Ether Tracker Euro, track Ether's price through an index calculated as the average across the three most liquid exchanges each day. Ether Tracker One is denominated in Swedish Krona while Ether Tracker Euro uses Euro.
The company, which had launched the first Bitcoin ETNs in September 2015, had spent more than a year fielding requests for Ethereum products from investors. Laurent Kssis, MD of XBT Provider, explained the significance: "The listing of these two Ether ETNs is a major win for European investors who have been requesting these products for over a year now. As of today, if investors want hassle-free exposure to the price movements of ether, they simply call their broker or trade on their normal brokerage platform – that's truly remarkable. We are thrilled to be able to deliver on investor demand via a safe, familiar route in Nasdaq."
Exchange-traded notes function as unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities that mirror the performance of an underlying index, minus applicable fees. They carry no coupon payments and no principal protection. Like ETFs, they trade on major exchanges during regular trading hours, giving investors a familiar way to access cryptocurrencies through their ordinary brokers.
Helena Wedin, head of ETP Services Europe at Nasdaq, welcomed the new products: "We are happy to be able to provide investors with this new investment opportunity. Given the high interest, we have experienced for the previous listings from XBT Provider it is exciting to now expand the offering into this unique exchange traded certificate. While it is important to acknowledge that exposure to an asset in its early stage of development, such as a digital currency, comes with a risk, trading Ether on Nasdaq Stockholm provides investors with the protection provided by a regulated infrastructure, well-known marketplace and accessibility through their ordinary brokers."
Demand for cryptocurrency access became apparent when Saxo Bank added both instruments to its platform on October 12th, one day after the Nasdaq Stockholm debut. Claus Nielsen, head of markets at Saxo Bank, pointed to client demand as the driver: "We have increasing client demand for exposure to cryptocurrencies and I am very pleased that we can now offer clients exposure to both Bitcoin and Ethereum through Exchange Traded Notes. Cryptocurrency markets are still at an early development stage and we find that listed products like ETNs without leverage, offering high levels of transparency, are good ways to include cryptocurrencies in our multi-asset product offering spanning more than 35,000 instruments. We continue to follow the developments in cryptocurrency markets and expect to able to add more instruments to our offering going forward."
Investors can trade the Ether ETNs on Saxo's SaxoTrader and SaxoTraderGO platforms, both without leverage. Bitcoin had recovered from China's regulatory crackdown on ICOs and cryptocurrency exchanges by this point, pushing above $5,800 to establish a new all-time high. As of October 14th, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood near $175 million.
