CoinShares Offers Institutional On-Ramp With Physically-Backed Bitcoin ETP

Today, digital asset manager CoinShares announced the launch of CoinShares Physical Bitcoin, an exchange-traded product (ETP) with each unit backed by on-chain BTC. The product will carry the ticker symbol “BITC.”

“BITC will be the first product released on CoinShares’ new institutional-grade ETP platform and will launch with significant assets under management,” according to a release shared with Bitcoin Magazine. “Each unit of BITC is backed with 0.001 bitcoin at launch, providing investors with passive exposure to bitcoin and the convenience of an exchange-traded product.”

BITC will be listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) and carry a base fee of 0.98 percent. Because it is launching with more than $100 million in assets under management, CoinShares expects the product to satisfy institutional and corporate baselines for investment. 

The underlying bitcoin will be held directly by a CoinShares entity and custodied by Komainu, a regulated, institutional digital asset custody provider. Real-time attestation of the product will be provided by accounting firm Armanino. CoinShares is also partnering with third parties to support the product line’s liquidity.

“Since 2014, CoinShares has provided an effective bridge between the cryptocurrency ecosystem and traditional finance,” Townsend Lansing, CoinShares’ head of product, said, per the release. “BITC and its platform represent the next stage of this evolution. As the European market leader for these products, we will continue to develop investment vehicles that eliminate the boundaries prohibiting institutions from actively investing in what we believe to be the future of finance.”

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