Another exchange-traded fund ("ETF") and exchange-traded product ("ETP") sponsor, WisdomTree, has announced the expansion of its digital assets range with the launch of a physically-backed Ether (ETH) ETP.
The product with the ticker ETHW was listed on Börse Xetra and SIX, the Swiss Stock Exchange. The company now offers physically-backed Ether and Bitcoin ETPs in Europe, both with a total expense ratio of 0.95% and passported across the European Union.
Strong demand for ETPs
The exchange-traded product (ETP) is supposed to provide investors with a simple, secure and cost-efficient way to gain exposure to the price of Ether, the native currency of the Ethereum network, while utilising the best of traditional financial infrastructure and product structuring.
“Since launching our first digital asset ETP we’ve seen the level of interest amongst institutional investors grow significantly. The asset class is still in its infancy but 2020 was an important year for the asset class and institutional investors are waking up to the potential digital assets can bring to portfolios as a diversifier. Our digital assets platform is growing alongside institutional demand.” - Alexis Marinof, Head of Europe WisdomTree
The ETP allows investors to access Ether without the need to hold the cryptocurrency directly, store private access keys or interact with the blockchain or digital currency infrastructure in any way.
“With this increase in popularity, institutional investors are doing their due diligence on the most liquid cryptocurrencies and we expect the pace of adoption across these to ramp up as the opportunity in digital assets becomes more compelling.” - Jason Guthrie, Head of Capital Markets and Digital Assets
Investors also get access to institutional grade storage solutions without needing to set it up with a custodian themselves. The ETP is the preferred structure for institutional investors allocating to digital assets as it fits seamlessly within current portfolio management structures.
