The New Way For Investors in the US to Invest in Bitcoin

Following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s evasion of the Bitcoin ETF question, an alternative is now being offered to US investors. A Bitcoin-based ETN (exchange traded note) listed on Nasdaq Stockholm exchange is being quoted in dollars since Wednesday, under the ticker CXBTF.

ETNs are close cousins to ETFs (exchange traded funds), but there are some key differences. ETNs are structured products that are issued as senior debt notes, while ETFs represent a stake in an underlying commodity. ETNs are more like bonds in that they are unsecured. ETFs provide investments into a fund that holds the assets it tracks, like stocks, bonds or gold.

The Bitcoin ETN has been trading on the Swedish stock exchange since 2015, but was only offered in euros and kronas, Sweden’s native currency. As it is now quoted in dollars, this is an attempt to market it towards US investors – if investors can convince their brokerage account providers to make the Bitcoin ETN available on their platforms.

“Everyone that’s investing in dollars can now get exposure to these products, whereas before, they were only available in euros or Swedish krona. Given the current climate on the regulatory front in the U.S., this is a big win for Bitcoin,” CEO of CoinShares Holdings, Ryan Radloff, told Bloomberg.

The product is dubbed Bitcoin Tracker One, and according to Bloomberg, trading it is “similar to buying an American depositary receipt, in that traders will see a foreign-listed asset in US dollars.” Although trades will be done in dollars, everything else will take place in the Swedish market.

Although it is speculated that a Bitcoin ETF would most likely send the price of the cryptocurrency upwards, the ETN announcement is not expected to have the same effect.

Also, as reported, the largest ETN trader in Europe, Amsterdam-based Flow Traders NV, is now making the first move into this market as it aims to profit from high-frequency trading of ETNs based on bitcoin and ethereum.