BlackRock to launch first BTC ETP in European market?

Source: Blockchain Knight

BlackRock is preparing to launch an exchange-traded product (ETP) pegged to BTC in Europe, Bloomberg News reported on Feb. 5.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the fund is expected to be registered in Switzerland and BlackRock may start selling the product as early as this month.

James Seyffart, Bloomberg ETF analyst, said that BlackRock is likely to launch the new ETP in a similar way to Canada. The Canadian ETP is a wrapper for IBIT, the spot BTC ETF launched by BlackRock in the United States.

However,

Seyffart pointed out that the chances of success of this move in Europe are low.

Seyffart emphasized that the BlackRock BTC ETP charges 25 basis points and 32 basis points (bps) in the United States and Canada, respectively.

It is worth noting that European products already provide BTC exposure through funds that charge 25 basis points.

Eric Balchunas also expressed interest in learning about the fees BlackRock charges in Europe.

Balchunas explained that the United States is generally the best among the rest of the world in terms of costs and liquidity.

Balchunas added: "Either way it is taken, it shows the commitment of the world's largest asset manager, as it has a large presence overseas."

The European Crypto asset ETP market includes more than 160 products tracking BTC, Ethereum (ETH) and other digital assets. The cumulative value of the market is $17.3 billion.

Balchunas stressed that the European Crypto ETF market is "barely on the charts" as US spot BTC ETFs account for 91% of the global share.

Balchunas believes that BlackRock has the opportunity to succeed by bringing the "American Terrordome" to Europe.

However, Balchunas pointed out that unlike American and Asian investors, European investors are less interested in high-risk investment products.

As of February 4, IBIT recorded $40.7 billion in net inflows, according to Farside Investors.  

Its inflows are more than three times that of the second-largest spot BTC ETF, Fidelity’s FBTC.