Fidelity International, an asset management, revealed the debut of its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe. This was the institution’s first foray into the European crypto space. More importantly, the ETP attracted notoriety after getting labeled as the world’s low-cost Bitcoin ETP.
The FBTC is traded on the Deutsche Boerse and Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and it has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.75%, which is the joint-lowest on the European marketplace with SEBA Bank’s Bitcoin Tracker Certificate USD (SBTCU).
In addition, the ETP will be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in the following weeks. According to reports, Eurex Clearing would centrally settle the physically guaranteed FBTC, with Fidelity Digital Assets serving as custodian. The instrument is anticipated to be listed on six more exchanges in the following weeks. Brown Brothers Harriman will also serve as the asset’s manager and transfer agent.
Fidelity also launched a spot Bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Canada in December. Nevertheless, only two weeks ago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) refused Fidelity Investments’ proposal for a long-awaited spot Bitcoin ETF. The company’s proposal did not include enough proof on the manner in which it would avoid fraud, according to the US agency. Surprisingly, the SEC cited the identical justification for several earlier spot BTC rejections.
According to a poll conducted by Fidelity Digital Assets last year, more than 70% of fund managers were keen in cryptoassets and intend to make an investment in the field within the upcoming five years.
As a result, the business established FBTC for institutional and professional customers. “The core Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has the capacity to modify the financial platform over time and destabilize many aspects of the financial realm with substantial ramifications for investors,” stated Christian Staub, Fidelity International’s managing director for Europe.
As cryptocurrency acceptance grows in Europe, a growing number of businesses are interested in joining the market. In November 2021, the US investment firm Invesco debuted the Invesco Physical Bitcoin ETP (BTIC), which was listed on the Deutsche Boerse. Staub went on to say on the technology’s increasing adoption:
“As blockchain technology gets more widely used, our customers are understandably asking for a more effective approach to capitalize on this trend. FBTC provides customers with a high-quality institutional option for entering the market in a familiar, straightforward, and safe manner.”
