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WisdomTree Gets Green Light to List Bitcoin, Ether ETPs on London Stock Exchange
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The ETPs will be available only to professional investors and carry fees of 35 basis points.
The FCA recently relaxed its stance on such products, having banned them in 2020.
Asset manager WisdomTree (WT) won approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to list crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), saying it is among the first applicants to have its prospectus given the go-ahead by the U.K. regulator.
WisdomTree’s Physical Bitcoin (BTCW) and Physical Ethereum (ETHW) ETPs are expected to start trading on May 28 and will be available only to professional investors, according to a Wednesday announcement. They will carry fees of 35 basis points.
The New York-based firm has more than $111 billion of assets under management worldwide, and its WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) was among those approved in the U.S. to operate a spot bitcoin ETF in January. It has offered crypto products on European exchanges since 2019.
The FCA said in March it would not to object to requests from financial institutions seeking to list ETPs for professional investors. The LSE confirmed it would accept applications for bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) products in the second quarter.
The regulator has also approved prospectuses from 21Shares and Invesco, according to the FCA website. Neither firm immediately responded to CoinDesk’s request for further comment.
The FCA introduced a ban on crypto derivatives products including ETPs in January 2020. However, with such products being widely available in Europe for several years and following the U.S. spot ETFs listing approvals, the regulator adjusted its stance. It is keeping the ban in place for for retail investors.
UPDATE (May 22, 12:35 UTC): Adds a line on 21Shares and Invesco also getting their prospectuses approved.
