Nasdaq Stockholm has announced that 21Shares has listed their first two physically backed exchange-traded notes (ETNs) on the Swedish trading platform. The two instruments listed, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as underlying assets, represent a new segment for ETNs — a type of unsecured debt security that tracks an underlying index of equities and trades on a major exchange. According to the announcement, the new ETNs will provide investors access to investment opportunities in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. Helena Wedin, European head of exchange traded products at Nasdaq, says that exchange-traded notes allow one to invest in …

United States-based companies are increasingly listing cryptocurrency-based investment products in Europe, with asset manager WisdomTree getting another listing for its crypto basket exchange-traded product (ETP). On Dec. 2, WisdomTree listed its Crypto Mega Cap Equal Weight ETP on Euronext exchanges in Paris and Amsterdam. Trading under the ticker symbol MEGA, the investment product is backed by physical crypto assets including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) with a quarterly rebalance. Launched in November 2021, MEGA was previously listed on Deutsche Boerse’s digital exchange Xetra and Swiss SIX exchange. Apart from MEGA, WisdomTree also launched two more crypto ETPs recently, including WisdomTree …

Konzum, the largest supermarket chain in Croatia, is keeping up with the times by debuting payments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The company officially announced on Dec. 1 that it now accepts nine cryptocurrencies for payment in its online store, allowing customers to use crypto to buy groceries, hygiene products and household supplies. According to the announcement, the supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), EOS, Dai (DAI), XRP, Stellar (XLM), as well as stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). To enable the new crypto payment option, Konzum partnered with a local crypto payment processor Electrocoin …

The new German government has cited crypto in its coalition agreement, advocating for an equal playing field between traditional finance and “innovative business models.” Three German political parties agreed to a coalition deal this week that will see left-leaning Social Democrats (SDP), the Green Party and the right-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) take the reins from December this year. According to a rough translation of the 177-page agreement published on Nov 24, the coalition calls for a new “dynamic in relation to the opportunities and risks from new financial innovations” such as crypto assets and blockchain businesses: “We are making European …

Hot on the heels of the rising cryptocurrency hype, Finnish regulators have dropped a formal notice. On Nov. 24th, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) stated: “Only registered virtual currency providers can market virtual currencies and related services in Finland. The marketing of virtual currencies in Finnish and in Finland is only allowed for entities registered as virtual currency providers in Finland.” Finland is a highly economically free country, ranking 17th in the Index for Economic Freedom. However, as LocalBitcoins CEO Sebastian Sonntag told Cointelegraph upon receiving their FSA license in 2019: “The controls in the financial sector are of particularly …

Swedish financial watchdog’s call for a European Union-wide ban on proof-of-work (PoW) crypto mining, mainly known as the method of minting new Bitcoin (BTC), has received backlash from crypto-related fund managers. Melanion Capital, a Paris-based alternative investment firm known for its Bitcoin ETF, addressed the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s call to ban PoW mining across Europe. “The claim that Bitcoin miners jeopardize the electricity network is completely misinformed,” noted Melanion, reminding that Bitcoin miners’ business model is prone to collapse when the electricity demand increases as it would also increase energy prices. The statement points …

European central banks ramp up their efforts to utilize distributed ledger technology (DLT), the foundation of blockchain, in central bank money settlements. Banca d’Italia and Deutsche Bundesbank, central banks of Italy and Germany, respectively, joined forces to work on settlements in central bank money of DLT-based asset exchanges. The official announcement stressed that the primary goal of the joint workshop was not to use DLT as a replacement for conventional systems. Instead, the initiative aims to complement the current central bank money settlement practices with a programmable trigger mechanism that connects the DLT-based asset, like a tokenized security, and cash …

Global crypto exchange Binance is starting a 100 million euro ($115 million) initiative to develop the blockchain and crypto ecosystem in French and Europe, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced in a talk with French Minister Cédric O at the French Ministry of Finance in Paris. Binance is launching the new initiative, officially named Objective Moon, in partnership with the local financial technology association France FinTech. The association will help Binance connect and work with the local fintech sector, a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph. According to the announcement, Objective Moon would see the development of a Binance Research and Development …

The crypto ecosystem picked yet another executive from traditional finance. Two months after raising $263 million, the Europe-based cryptocurrency trading platform Bitpanda announced that Joshua Barraclough, a former exec at JP Morgan, joined its ranks as the CEO of its fully-regulated digital asset exchange Bitpanda Pro. Before transitioning into the crypto world, Barraclough worked as the global head of the fintech team and then as the co-head of digital innovation at JP Morgan. Answering Cointelegraph’s questions about the transition, Barraclough said that leaving JP Morgan to join Bitpanda was an easy decision. “I have always been at the bleeding edge …

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced the formation of a Market Advisory Group for the purpose of exploring the infrastructural and circulation potential of the digital euro from the perspective of industry spearheads. The group also aims to uncover the digital euros optimal function within the pan-European currency's vast payments ecosystem. The group includes a number of well-established experts from the banking and financial sector, including Aleksander Kurtevski, managing director of Bankart, Antonio Macías Vecino, head of payments discipline at BBVA and Axel Schaefer, payment regulation and innovation specialist at Ingka Group (Ikea), among others. It is expected that …

Valour, a Zurich-based exchange-traded products (ETP) issuer, announced the launch of a fully-backed investment product to increase exposure to Uniswap decentralized exchange’s native token, UNI. The UNI token serves as the underlying asset within the Valour Uniswap ETP offering available as a fully-backed passive investment product. The Uniswap ETP was launched on a European stock exchange named Boerse Frankfurt Zertifikate AG, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange co-owner. Valour CEO Diana Biggs highlighted the inaccessibility of blockchain-based investment products on traditional markets and stock exchanges. Speaking about Valour Uniswap ETP’s position in making DeFi investments available via mainstream investment channels, he said: …

Concurrent to the United States finally launching its first Bitcoin (BTC) futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) Tuesday, France inches closer to a major Bitcoin-related ETF launch. Paris-based alternative investment firm Melanion Capital is preparing to launch its Bitcoin-linked ETF product already this Friday, the firm’s CEO Jad Comair announced to Cointelegraph on Monday. Called “Melanion BTC Equities Universe UCITS ETF,” the Bitcoin ETF will start trading on France’s primary stock exchange, Euronext Paris, at 7 am UTC. The product will be listed under the ticker symbol BTC FP, providing investors with Bitcoin exposure through a diversified basket of equities correlated to …