Europe has welcomed its first regulated Bitcoin exchange-traded instrument (ETI) with the BitcoinETI listing on the Gibraltar Stock Exchange.

Exchange-traded instruments are exchange traded securities which allow simple and transparent participation in the performance of an underlying instrument, and in the case of BitcoinETI, that underlying instrument is bitcoin.

ETIs differ from Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in that they are completely free to choose the underlying asset and make use of it by issuing securities linked to alternative investments, something ETFs are not allowed to track according to ETI Securities.

The new BitcoinETI has been issued by iStructure PCC PLC in a joint venture between the Gibraltar government and the territory’s financial regulator along with developers Argentarius ETI Management Limited and iStructure PCC PLC subsidiary Revoltura Ltd.

Coinbase, Inc. is acting as the ETI’s bitcoin custodian.

The ETI is open to sophisticated investors only with a minimum order size of €100,000 ($110,000) and because of its listing on the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX) the instrument can be sold across the entire European Economic Area.

“GSX is an EU regulated market which offers efficient and cost effective solutions for innovative companies and financial products,” Gibraltar Stock Exchange Managing Director Nick Cowan said in a statement. “We look forward to supporting the BitcoinETI in its entry to the public markets.”

Growing confidence

While the BitcoinETI is a niche investment opportunity open essentially to only high wealth individuals, it’s mere existence is another sign of the growing confidence in bitcoin as a traded commodity with growth potential going forward.

In the United States, this has been represented by the emergence of Bitcoin ETF’s such as the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF and the SolidX Bitcoin Trust, both of which will eventually offer managed investment opportunities that allow investors to have exposure to the bitcoin market without directly investing in it themselves.

In addition to its listing on the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, BitcoinETI will also be co-listed on Deutsche Börse later this week under the symbol “BTCETI”.

photo credit: Bitcoin Mittelmeerlandschaft via photopin (license)