$49 Billion Fund Manager Launches Bitcoin ETN in Europe

American investment management firm VanEck today announced the launch of its Bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN) product for the European market, as per a release. The product shall use pricing data from financial services firm MV Index Solutions.

The Bitcoin ETN will allow investors to gain exposure to, or bet on the price movements, of Bitcoin—as opposed to buying “spot” Bitcoin on unregulated crypto exchanges and having to deal with security, regulatory, and storage issues.

As such, the ETN is based on the MVIS CryptoCompare Bitcoin VWAP Close Index, which itself measures the prices of Bitcoin based on hourly volume-weighted moving average (VWAP) prices. The latter is a popular indicator used by institutional traders to calculate the average price of a security based on both its volume and price (for a more accurate picture of the security's value).

The product will be traded on the German bourse Deutsche Börse Xetra, which commanded over 70.65% of the total equities volume in Germany as of last month.

VanEck touted the volatility of Bitcoin and its increased use as a popular alternative to gold as some benefits that the ETN product provides to European investors. “Bitcoin's historically relatively low correlation to other asset classes makes it an excellent way to contribute to the diversification of a portfolio,” said Martijn Rozemuller, head of VanEck Europe, in a statement.

The launch further develops VanEck’s Bitcoin product offerings available on the market, which have seen mixed responses. Last year, it introduced a “Limited Bitcoin ETF” in partnership with investment firm SolidX for “qualified institutional investors. However, the product failed to get much traction, while VanEck’s push for a full-fledged Bitcoin ETF in the US has been repeatedly thwarted.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s surging ahead. The pioneer cryptocurrency trades at $19,300 as of press time and is within inches of its storied 2017 high. There’s just no stopping it.