FINMA approved the first retail Bitcoin ETF established under Swiss law, granting it a fund-level exemption from diversification requirements: Bitcoin has a sufficiently long trading history and high enough trading volume to allow the fund to hold it on a concentrated basis, without meeting the usual diversification requirements.
But the exemption applies only to how much the fund can concentrate its holdings. On the custody side, clients’ crypto assets must remain outside the custodian’s bankruptcy estate, and using an external custodian does not transfer responsibility away from the licensed institution. On the sales side, suitability assessments under FinSA still apply, and the risks of volatility and loss must be clearly explained.
In other words, the legal wrapper has changed, but the risk of Bitcoin losing value still rests with the buyer.
But the exemption applies only to how much the fund can concentrate its holdings. On the custody side, clients’ crypto assets must remain outside the custodian’s bankruptcy estate, and using an external custodian does not transfer responsibility away from the licensed institution. On the sales side, suitability assessments under FinSA still apply, and the risks of volatility and loss must be clearly explained.
In other words, the legal wrapper has changed, but the risk of Bitcoin losing value still rests with the buyer.