UK Crypto Craze: ETF Avalanche Hits London! 😏📈

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Oh, joy! Top-notch asset managers like BlackRock, 21Shares, WisdomTree, and Bitwise have decided to throw open the gates to Bitcoin

BTC
$110 483

24h volatility:
1.7%

Market cap:
$2.20 T

Vol. 24h:
$58.92 B

and Ethereum

ETH
$3 941

24h volatility:
1.0%

Market cap:
$475.68 B

Vol. 24h:
$35.44 B

exchange-traded products, because apparently, UK schmucks like you and me are finally deemed responsible enough for this digital wild west. 🤑

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF is sashaying onto the London Stock Exchange (LSE), with shares as physically backed by BTC as a diet of kale and tofu – held securely via Coinbase, because who needs adventures when you’ve got custody? 😏

And get this: in the US, this baby zoomed to nearly $100 billion in assets under management faster than you can say ‘crypto bubble.’ It took just 18 months. Talk about a growth spurt! 🚀

Jane Sloan, EMEA head of global product solutions at BlackRock, chimed in with all the corporate sparkle:

“Built on institutional-grade infrastructure, [the product] enables UK investors to gain exposure to bitcoin with the confidence of robust custody and regulatory oversight.”

Ah, confidence. Just what we need when the crypto market’s swinging more violently than my dating history. This little development happened a mere 12 days after the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lifted its four-year ban on retail access to crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs). 🎉 Because nothing says ‘trust us’ like a ban that suddenly flips like a politician’s promise.

Now, the floodgates are open to a wider investor base – or should I say, a wider pool of folks wondering if they’ll be rich or ruined by breakfast. Apart from BlackRock, the other players are charging in like bulls at a red cape. 📉

21Shares, Bitwise and WisdomTree Sprint to Stuff Bitcoin and Ethereum Into Our Portfolios

On Monday, October 20, 21Shares unleashed two physically backed products for Bitcoin and Ethereum on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), complete with a staking gimmick for Ethereum and bargain-basement 0.1% fees for select ones. Because why not throw in some freebies to make you feel like you’re getting a deal in this casino? 🤡

And oh, this is the same crowd angling for a spot Dogecoin ETF approval in the US. Because nothing screams ‘serious investment’ like a meme coin with a dog. 🐕💸

21Shares kicked off its crypto ETPs for institutional bigwigs in the UK last year and snatched up 70% of total turnover on the LSE, according to them. Impressive? Or just proof that when you corner the market, you’re the only game in town? 🤔

WisdomTree, meanwhile, is peddling its physically backed Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs on the LSE at eye-watering fees of 0.15% and 0.35%. They already dipped their toes in with institutional offerings here. Talk about not reinventing the wheel – or in this case, the blockchain. 🔄

Bitwise jumped on Tuesday with plans to list Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs on the LSE, sporting a teensy 0.05% fee on its Core Bitcoin ETP for at least six months. Generous? Or a sugarcoat to hook the greedy? 🍭

Flashback to 2021: the FCA, our beloved financial babysitters, slapped a ban on selling, marketing, or distributing crypto derivatives and ETNs to retail peons. Retail, as in us mere mortals who don’t have private jets (yet). ✋

But with this shiny new policy, we can now dive in through UK-regulated brokers and platforms, like your standard brokerage accounts or those tax-efficient wrappers called ISAs and SIPPs. WisdomTree burst this bubble yesterday. So, hallelujah, now you can lose your shirt the regulated way! 🙌

This tweak nudges the UK closer to being as cool as the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and the EU. But hold your horses – the ban on broader retail access to crypto derivatives is still there. Because why let all hell break loose at once? 😉

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2025-10-20 20:37