Cryptocurrency tracking instruments traded on established
equity exchanges allow institutional and retail investors to gain
exposure to digital assets. Now there is a new option to invest in
bitcoin cash (BCH)
with an exchange traded product in one of the most advanced markets in
the world. Under the ticker ABCH, bitcoin cash is the sixth Amun
crypto-asset tracker listed on the Swiss stock exchange Six.
Bitcoin Cash Exchange Traded Product
Amun AG, a Swiss fintech company aiming to facilitate access to
crypto asset investments, announced on Friday, July 5 that it has listed
the first exchange traded product (ETP) tracking the performance of
bitcoin cash (BCH).
Founded in 1850, Six is Switzerland’s principal stock exchange. It
offers traders securities including Swiss government bonds as well as
derivatives such as stock options.
The Amun Bitcoin Cash ETP is a fully collateralized product that is
denominated in US dollars and has an annual investor fee of 2.5% that
includes custody, insurance, and re-balancing fees. This new crypto
investment instrument is seeded by Roger Ver with 25,000 BCH, worth more than $10 million as of today.
The flow of institutional money into digital assets of all kinds over
the past few years has helped the new market mature, granting it
similar status to investment categories such as stocks and other
equities. By giving investors another option to profit from the success
of bitcoin cash, this new tool will also support cryptocurrency becoming
mainstream as more people are exposed to it financially.
Headquartered in Zurich, Amun was established in 2018 and is led by a
team of serial entrepreneurs and experienced professionals from the
asset management industry. It employs an institutional grade security
and custody solution using a variety of safety measures including cold
storage, multiple private keys, whitelisting and audit trails to hold
the underlying crypto assets.
“As Bitcoin Cash is becoming a game changer in the crypto space and
beyond, I believe Amun has the credential to carry out our objective, a
global adoption of Bitcoin Cash. We are confident that our investment in
the new Amun BCH
ETP will set the example and drive more investors to join the growing
community which believes in the success of Bitcoin Cash,” explained
Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver.
Six Swiss Exchange Leads With Crypto ETPs
This launch of the BCH
exchange traded product follows the listing in the past nine months of
five ETPs by Amun for trading on Six. These cover the top 10
cryptocurrencies with the Amun Bitwise Select 10 Large Cap Crypto Index
ETP (KEYS), the top five cryptocurrencies with the Amun Crypto Basket
Index ETP (HODL), as well as three individual asset trackers on bitcoin
(ABTC), ethereum (AETH) and ripple (AXRP).
Hany Rashwan, Amun Co-Founder and CEO, commented: “We are delivering
our strategy, which is to provide investors with the wider product suite
in the crypto-assets space, easily available on one of the most
reputable market place, the Swiss Exchange. Thanks to this product,
investors can now easily add Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to their portfolio.”
Given the occasional confusion between ETPs and ETFs (exchange traded
funds), it is important to note that while the two instruments have
technical similarities, they are legally two different products, and are
listed under different categories on Six Swiss Exchange. When the
matter popped up last year the exchange clarified
that: ”ETPs are collateralized, noninterest-earning bearer debt
securities which replicate an underlying [asset] (generally from the
commodities sector), either on a regular or leveraged basis. Like ETFs,
they trade in a multi market-making segment, but in legal terms they are
not funds.”
Not satisfied with merely serving as a hub for investing in crypto
assets tracking products, Six is also looking for additional ways to
benefit from the innovation underpinning cryptocurrency. Earlier this
year the chairman of the exchange, Romeo Lacher, announced
Six’s intention to launch a new market powered by blockchain technology
during the second half of 2019. The venue, to be called the SIX Digital
Exchange (SDX), is expected to initially run parallel to Six’s legacy
exchange platform.
By incorporating distributed ledger technology, transactions on SDX
will only require a single step and can be completed in less than a
second, whereas the legacy platform requires three processes that can
take up to several days to finish. Lacher also stated at the time that
the exchange is hoping to conduct a security token offering.
The Swiss Advantage
The launch of this bitcoin cash exchange traded product is the latest
example of how Switzerland is well ahead of most other countries in
terms of crypto finance. For centuries the country was known around the
world for its tradition of banking secrecy, but now the cryptocurrency
industry has taken root in the country.
Cryptocurrency foundations, community organizations and entrepreneurs
have all helped put the lightly populated Swiss canton of Zug on the
business world’s map as ‘Crypto Valley’. This is mainly because the
local administration has created one of the most welcoming environments
for the industry, in contrast to much more restrictive jurisdictions
such as the U.S. where many businesses complain innovation is
discouraged by heavy-handed regulations.
The latest example of this trend is of course Facebook establishing the foundation for managing its Libra coin in Switzerland, which American politicians see as a possible threat to the hegemony of the U.S. dollar.
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