The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has approved asset management WisdomTree (WT) to list cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The company claims to be one of the first applicants to receive permission for its prospectus from the UK regulator.
According to a statement released on Wednesday, WisdomTree’s Physical Bitcoin (BTCW) and Physical Ethereum (ETHW) ETPs will only be accessible to experienced investors and are anticipated to begin trading on May 28. They will be charged 35 basis point costs.
The New York-based company manages more than $111 billion in assets globally, and in January, it received approval to operate a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States through its WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW). Since 2019, it has provided cryptocurrency products on exchanges in Europe.
In March, the FCA declared that it would not raise any issues with requests from financial institutions looking to list ETPs for high-net-worth individuals. The LSE declared that it would accept applications in the second quarter for products backed by ether (ETH) and bitcoin (BTC).
The FCA website states that the agency has also authorised prospectuses from Invesco and 21Shares. In January 2020, the FCA imposed a prohibition on cryptocurrency derivatives instruments, including ETPs.
But after the U.S. spot ETFs listing approvals and several years of widespread availability in Europe, the regulator changed its position. The prohibition is being maintained for individual investors.