SIX Exchange Launches First Crypto ETP in Swiss Franc

Another crypto-based financial product is coming to the Swiss stock exchange SIX.

Fintech firm Amun and crypto service Bitcoin Suisse announced Thursday the launch of its Swiss franc denominated Amun Bitcoin Suisse BTC/ETH exchange-traded product (ETP) under the ABBA ticker. Nine parts bitcoin and one part ether, the ETP captures some 75 percent of the total cryptocurrency market cap in one listed product.

In an interview, Amun CEO Hany Rashwan said the ETP serves as an important financial hedge. Based on the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap and denominated in Swiss francs, Rashwan said the product is uniquely Swiss.

“It’s the conservative Swiss way of doing things,” Rashwan told CoinDesk. “It’s safe, cheap, and conservative.”

Unlike exchange-traded notes (ETNs), ETPs are legally obligated to be backed one-to-one by reserves. Amun says the ETP is fully collateralized with bitcoin and ether custodied in Switzerland by Bitcoin Suisse. The firm’s first ETP since its founding in 2013, Bitcoin Suisse currently holds some $1 billion.

The product follows Amun’s numerous other crypto-based ETPs launched this year, based on leading cryptocurrencies by volume traded such as bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum and XRP.

Rashwan told CoinDesk the firm expects to have some $75 million in assets under management for this type of product’s portfolio by the end of the year, spurred on by further product launches this coming quarter, including ETPs.

Said Rashwan:

“[Amun is] expanding to more stock exchanges across more geographies covering more assets and more currencies.”

Swiss franc image via Shutterstock