Crypto Exchange-Traded Products Get UK Regulatory Green Light

Emily Nicolle, Bloomberg News

A reflection of a candlestick price chart and an illuminated Bitcoin logo inside a BitBase cryptocurrency exchange in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, May 16, 2022. The wipeout of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister token Luna knocked more than $270 billion off the crypto sector’s total trillion-dollar value in the most volatile week for Bitcoin trading in at least two years. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The UK’s financial regulator approved the first cryptocurrency exchange-traded products, a step toward catching up to other financial centers in digital assets.

WisdomTree Inc. said it received the green light from the Financial Conduct Authority to list a pair of physically-backed crypto ETPs tracking Bitcoin and Ether on the London Stock Exchange. The products may start trading as soon as May 28, WisdomTree said in a statement Wednesday. Invesco Digital Markets confirmed in a statement that the company received approval for its Bitcoin ETP and also expects trading to begin on May 28.

ETC Group, 21Shares and CoinShares are among other issuers who have applied to list their own crypto products in the UK. An FCA website displaying approvals listed entries from WisdomTree, 21Shares and Invesco Digital Markets Plc as of 12 p.m. on Wednesday. That was the deadline for being included on the first day of trading.

Even though all listed products will directly hold either Bitcoin or Ether, they are only available to professional investors under rules set by the FCA. That’s a stricter stance than in the US, where a new crop of Bitcoin ETFs approved in January now oversee a combined $59 billion — almost five times the total for crypto vehicles traded in Europe.

Read More: London Stock Exchange to Accept Bitcoin, Ether ETN Applications

ETPs linked to cryptocurrencies have traded on other European stock exchanges for years. The success of products approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in January propelled Bitcoin to a record high in March and have paved the way for wider adoption by both retail and institutional investors.

Hong Kong has also allowed Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, but they’ve received a tepid response from investors there.

ETC Group said its application remains in progress, while 21Shares confirmed its application had been approved.

CoinShares declined to comment, as did the FCA.

(Updates with Invesco confirming approval in second paragraph)