21Shares, the Swiss pioneering Crypto ETP issuer, today announced that one of the first cryptocurrency exchange traded products (‘ETPs’) will become available to institutional investors in the UK to trade on Aquis Exchange. This arrangement is in partnership with GHCO, a leading market-maker and liquidity provider specialising in ETFs.

@21Shares_ Bitcoin ETP is to become available for trading on Aquis Exchange to UK institutional investors, GHCO to be market maker. pic.twitter.com/4zDPDWeZbk

— Aquis Exchange (@Aquis_Exchange) June 7, 2021

The 21Shares Bitcoin ETP (ABTC) will become available on Aquis Exchange, a pan-European MTF business based in London and Paris which offers trading in some of the biggest and most liquid stocks across 15 European markets. The ETP will be centrally cleared (CCP) and is engineered like an ETF. ETPs trade on exchanges in a similar manner to a listed stock and institutional investors in the UK will get exposure to Bitcoin via a regulated framework and structure which they are already accustomed to.

The ETP has been designed to provide institutional UK investors with secure and cost-effective exposure to Bitcoin without the associated Bitcoin custody and security challenges. One unit of 21Shares Bitcoin ETP represents exposure to roughly 0.00035 Bitcoin entitlement.

GHCO, an Authorised Participant (AP) for the 21Shares product, will act as the liquidity provider for the Bitcoin ETP, meaning that institutional investors will have access to ample liquidity as easily as the underlying asset. GHCO has been actively trading ETFs and recently started quoting crypto ETPs. It has an unrivalled track record in quoting the tightest spreads, a key demand for institutional investors.

21Shares is the largest cryptocurrency ETP issuer in the world, with over $1.5bn in AUM across 14 ETPs available on several European stock exchanges. The UK launch follows over two years of successful testing and launching of cryptocurrency ETPs by 21Shares for institutional investors in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria and the Netherlands.

21Shares and Aquis Exchange plan to cooperate on bringing more of 21Shares’ suite of institutional cryptocurrency products to institutional investors in the UK, including ETPs in other prominent cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Ripple, Tezos, Polkadot, Cardano and Stellar.

Hany Rashwan, CEO of 21Shares said: “This is the right time to bring our successful crypto ETP to the institutional UK market. Our strong track record and existing institutional reach across continental Europe means that investors can confidently gain exposure to Bitcoin via a liquid and conventional investment product.”

Dan Izzo, CEO of GHCO, added: “ETPs are a key development for investing in crypto assets as it matures as an asset class. We expect more demand for this reliable, easily-accessible infrastructure with deep pools of liquidity – liquidity that we are happy to facilitate.”

Alasdair Haynes, CEO of Aquis Exchange concluded: “We have been working alongside 21Shares on this project as we are keen to respond to institutional demand in the UK for digital assets.”

21Shares Bitcoin ETP will be available on Aquis Exchange for professional investors only. The forthcoming UK launch is expected to take place this summer and follows recent successful debuts on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam on 1st June.

Source: Aquis