Europe's first spot Bitcoin ETF eyes 2023 debut after a year-long delay

Europe’s first spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) is set to debut later this year after a year-long delay. The Bitcoin ETF by Jacobi Asset Management, a London-based multi-asset investment platform, was set to debut on the Euronext Amsterdam Exchange under the ticker BCOIN in July 2022. 

However, unprecedented market conditions aided by the collapse of the Terra-Luna ecosystem in May and FTX collapse in November last year forced the asset manager to postpone the listing. The Jacobi Bitcoin ETF received approval from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) to launch its Bitcoin ETF in October 2021.

The asset manager told the Financial Times that they have decided to launch the ETF now because they have seen a gradual shift in demand compared to the last summer. The asset manager told Cointelegraph that they are still assessing the launch and will share a date soon.

The Jacobi Bitcoin ETF is a centrally cleared crypto-backed financial instrument with custody supported by Fidelity Digital Assets, a major shift from the usual exchange-traded notes (ETNs). In Europe, all of the crypto-backed traditional financial instruments were structured as ETNs, rather than funds.

The major difference between an ETN and an ETF is that the ETF shareholder owns a portion of the fund’s underlying assets, while ETN investors own debt security. ETFs, unlike ETNs, cannot be leveraged or use derivatives, which could otherwise lead to market manipulation risks.

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While Europe approved its first spot Bitcoin ETF in October, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected all spot Bitcoin ETFs to date. However, in 2023 alone nearly half a dozen institutional giants including the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity have filed fresh spot Bitcoin ETF applications in hopes of becoming the first U.S approved spot BTC ETF. The SEC has already approved a couple of futures Bitcoin ETFs in 2021.

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