Overview

• The iShares Bitcoin ETP, ticker IB1T, is physically backed with bitcoin held via Coinbase, with assets moved to segregated cold storage at day’s end.
• 21Shares, WisdomTree and Bitwise also listed products on the London Stock Exchange, widening retail access to Bitcoin and Ethereum with several low-fee offerings.
• Initial activity was recorded with roughly 1,000 IB1T shares traded in the first hour as some broker platforms worked to enable client access.
• The LSE listings follow the FCA’s Oct. 9 decision to end a four-year retail ban on crypto ETNs and its recent moves to speed licensing and permit fund tokenisation using distributed ledger technology.
• The UK launch coincides with about $1.2 billion in weekly outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, highlighting divergent regional flows during a volatile period for crypto markets.