Bitcoin and Ethereum have been on a rapid ascent. And now, the London Stock Exchange wants to get involved.
What’s happening:
- The London Stock Exchange has announced that they will begin accepting applications for Exchange Traded Notes that are backed by Bitcoin and Ethereum
Why it matters:
- The new announcement from the London Stock Exchange comes after the historic approval from the SEC to allow spot Bitcoin ETFs to list on major stock exchanges in the United States
- Merging digital assets with public markets has been one of the largest and most anticipated catalysts for Bitcoin and Ethereum, as it acts as an onramp for institutional capital such as hedge funds and pension funds who were previously unable to allocate to crypto
Going deeper:
- Exchange Traded Notes differ slightly from Exchange Traded Funds as they are debt instruments as opposed to a pool of assets
- Regulators in Hong Kong also recently accepted their first ever application for a spot Bitcoin ETF to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Policy makers in South Korea have also recently formed a new digital asset policy which is aiming to bring spot Bitcoin ETFs to the Korea Stock Exchange
The fine print:
- The London Stock Exchange has said that the first Exchange Traded Notes focused on digital assets will only be available to select institutional investors once approved and will not yet be broadly accessible