21shares has launched Europe’s new low-cost spot Bitcoin ETF in Switzerland that claims to withstand the bear market.
Announcing its Crypto Winter Suite, the world’s largest issuer of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products [ETPs] rolled out the first product in the suite dubbed as 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP [CBTC], on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
According to the press release, CBTC has a total expense ratio of 21 basis points [0.21%] signifying the 21 million cap on Bitcoin – which is 44 basis points [0.44%] below the next lowest product on the market.
In order to achieve this, a portion of the underlying crypto would be lent out on a fully collateralized basis to balance out the operating costs. Lending on CBTC will commence once the product achieves sufficient scale, the blog read.
Beyond that, the ETP curator’s next focus would be creating bear-market compatible products. Arthur Krause, Director of ETP Product at 21Shares stated,
Given the current market environment, many investors are looking to ‘buy-the-dip’ and generate the maximum potential long-term return.Our Crypto Winter Suite will provide ways for investors to dip their toes in the water at some of the lowest costs on the market.
Last week, ProShares debuted its first short bitcoin-linked ETF in the United States under the ticker BITI. The new fund went live on the New York Stock Exchange NYSE, TronWeekly reported.
Bitcoin ETFs Face An Uncertain Future
During the market turbulence in early June, Bitcoin ETFs plummeted as stocks trade sharply lower with some dropping as low as 70%.
Even though Bitcoin has slid back to the $20k range and the market remained on a bearish tone, sell-offs have eased now.
On June 27, Grayscale Investments announced that it is gearing up to work with bigwigs market makers Jane Street and Virtu Financial if the SEC approves their Grayscale Bitcoin Trust [GBTC] to be converted into a spot ETF.
GBTC then was trading at nearly a 30% discount to the net asset value. The discount would likely be removed if the trust converted to an ETF.
Moreover, the SEC’s decision on GBTC’s spot ETF application is expected to be announced by July 6th, 2022. Irrespective of the outcome, CEO Michael Sonnenshien reiterated that his firm is committed to converting GBTC from a trust to a spot ETF.