Crypto ETPs in Europe

Written by Martin Bartlam and Marina Troullinou at DLA Piper

What are crypto ETPs?

Exchange traded products (ETPs) are financial instruments traded on stock exchanges and are typically structured as exchange traded funds (ETFs), exchange traded notes (ETNs), exchange traded certificates (ETCs) or exchange traded commodities. ETPs for digital assets allow investors to gain exposure to or track the performance of a cryptoasset (such as Bitcoin or Ethereum) or a basket of cryptoassets without needing to hold them directly.

Why crypto ETPs?

Crypto ETPs seek to replicate the economic effect of investing in the underlying cryptoassets or a basket of cryptoassets. Crypto ETPs are typically regulated investment products and, as such, they benefit from the full-suite of applicable regulatory protections. Accordingly, crypto ETPs essentially provide investors with a ‘regulated avenue’ into the crypto markets. They are distributed via known distribution channels and established firms and are traded on traditional stock exchanges. This means that investors ar…