Switzerland approves first spot Bitcoin ETF for retail investors

Switzerland’s financial regulator FINMA has approved the first Swiss-law exchange-traded fund allowing retail investors to gain direct exposure to Bitcoin.

On Thursday, BIT Asset Management said its Bitcoin Fund ETF (BBIT) is expected to begin trading on SIX Swiss Exchange in November. The fund holds Bitcoin directly and is approved for public offering in Switzerland only.

“Most bitcoin products listed in Europe today are exchange-traded products (ETPs), which are debt instruments that carry issuer risk,” said BIT Asset Management.

The Bitcoin Fund ETF is instead a Swiss collective investment scheme, where assets are held separately from those of the fund management company and are “ring-fenced” for investors, it said. 

The fund falls under Switzerland’s “other funds for alternative investments” category with particular risk. FINMA noted that other fund providers have also submitted applications for Bitcoin ETFs. 

While FINMA has allowed funds that invest primarily in a basket of cryptocurrencies since 2021, this is the first time that FINMA has approved a fund that only invests in Bitcoin, citing trading history and higher trading volume compared with other cryptocurrencies.

However, it stressed that Bitcoin remains highly volatile even when accessed through an approved ETF.