Bitcoin ETFs have been making waves in the United States since the first ETF was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2021. Across the pond, however, these digital asset exchange-traded funds have not had much luck. That said, so far, the first Bitcoin ETF is about to begin trading in Europe, two years after the first BTC ETF began trading in the United States.
Europe's first Bitcoin ETF is about to go live
Now, it’s not that there has been a lack of attempts in the case of Bitcoin ETFs, as there have been applications for approvals in the U.S. One of these came from Jacobi Asset Management, which had its fund approved back in 2022. While anticipation for the launch of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF grew, the digital asset manager ended up delaying the launch by a year.
This was understandable as the market had just entered a bear phase, initially triggered by the Terra LUNA crash. However, delays would continue until 2022, until now, when Jacobi announced that trading would begin.
According to a report published by the Financial Times earlier Thursday, the company is ready to move forward with its Bitcoin ETF and will launch trading this month, after it received approval to begin trading in Guernsey.
The fact that a Bitcoin ETF is launching now could indicate increased interest from European institutional players, which could help drive demand. Jacobi Asset Management noted this, saying that the ETF is launching now because “demand has changed since last summer.”
Digital asset ETFs are heating up
The launch of Europe’s first Bitcoin ETF comes at a time when large fund managers are clamoring for the U.S. to approve spot ETFs. So far, BlackRock, Fidelity, and WisdomTree, among others, have applied for spot Bitcoin ETFs. Even after the SEC deemed their applications inadequate, the fund managers doubled down and resubmitted them.
These ETFs, if approved, could spark the next bull run. Their potential impact was already apparent when the BTC price surged above $31,000 following news that BlackRock and others had filed for spot ETFs.
If anything, the increase in the number of fund managers filing for ETFs already suggests these wealth managers are seeing a lot of interest from clients who are large investors whose entry into the space could lead to billions of dollars flowing into cryptocurrencies.