You Won’t Believe Who Just Made Bitcoin Chic in London! 😲

Markets

What one ought to know:

  • It appears that BlackRock, ever the ambitious financier, has introduced a bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) upon the grand stage of the London Stock Exchange, joining a delightful parade of similar offerings now permitted by the kindly FCA.
  • In splendid company, one finds 21Shares, WisdomTree, and Bitwise, each hoping to tempt the public with the promise of digital riches.
  • BlackRock, with their habitual flair for success, has already demonstrated triumphs in the realm of crypto, particularly with their eminent iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), boasting a sum of $85.5 billion in net assets-quite the fortune, indeed!

On Monday, BlackRock gallantly debuted a bitcoin ETP in London, an occasion made possible by the FCA’s benevolent decision to lift a prior prohibition on retail investment in such curiosities, a restraint which had lasted since the year of 2021.

Alongside the iShares Bitcoin ETP, known by the mysterious ticker IB1T, investors are granted entrée to the treasures of 21Shares, WisdomTree, and Bitwise-allowing mortals to dabble in bitcoin without ever soiling their hands with the actual coinage.

Not to be outdone, BlackRock’s product has already taken the continent by storm, appearing upon Xetra, Euronext Amsterdam, and Euronext Paris, thus proving that London is hardly the first theatre of its triumph.

Meanwhile, the Swiss compatriots at 21Shares have introduced four of their most celebrated crypto ETNs, including bitcoin (ABTC) and ether (AETH) staking marvels, as well as two “Core” offerings, CBTC and ETHC, which, to the relief of prudent investors, demand but a trifling management fee of 0.10%.

“This launch,” declared the ever-serious Mr. Russel Barlow, CEO of 21Shares, “is a landmark step for the U.K., and for those humble investors who, for years, were excluded from the regulated joys of crypto products.” Indeed, the lifting of the ban, he insists, “begins to level the playing field with Europe.”

WisdomTree, whose offerings were once reserved for the merely opulent, now promises that their Physical Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs will be available to the general public through a range of U.K.-regulated platforms this very week. How delightfully democratic!

Bitwise, not wishing to be left in the dust, listed four ETPs upon the LSE, two each for BTC and ETH. As a gesture of magnanimity, they have reduced the management fee of their Core Bitcoin ETP (BTC1) from a modest 20 basis points to a positively modest 5 bps for the next half-year.

BlackRock, custodian of over $13 trillion in worldly assets, continues its meteoric ascent in the crypto realm. Their flagship bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), remains the largest spot bitcoin ETF in existence, a veritable behemoth, dwarfing even Fidelity’s FBTC, which counts but $21.9 billion among its possessions. Quite the spectacle, indeed! 😏

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2025-10-20 14:28