Grayscale Investments Announces Plans to List First ETF in Europe

Grayscale Investments has announced plans to list its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Europe.

Dubbed the Future of Finance UCITS, the ETF will be listed on some of the top exchanges on the continent, according to BNN Bloomberg. 

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said last month the digital asset manager had been eyeing the European crypto fund market, which already has over 70 exchange-traded products with a total of $7 billion in assets.

The Future of Finance UCITS ETF will list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Borsa Italiana, and Deutsche Börse Xetra.

Some of the flagship firms included in the ETF are Robinhood, Coinbase, PayPal, Block (formerly Square), and Silvergate. According to Grayscale, the California-based financial service company Robinhood has the highest market value of more than $900,000 with a 10.69% weight.

“This product draws upon our historical strengths while furthering our evolution as an asset manager that helps investors build portfolios that can stand the test of time. GFOF UCITS ETF is the natural next step in our global strategic journey,” said Sonnenshein.

According to the CEO, this ETF will track the performance of Grayscale’s “Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index” while offering exposure to finance, technology, and crypto-related companies. 

The largest asset manager added that these firms are “building the digital economy – all through the familiar ETF wrapper.”

Grayscale spot bitcoin ETF still proving elusive

Grayscale has been trying to get approval for a spot bitcoin ETF since 2017, but with Teucrium’s futures ETF authorization from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the firm’s lawyers wanted faster approval for its flagship ETF.

“We believe that the Teucrium order confirms the fundamental point made in our November 29, 2021 letter…[w]hen it comes to approving ETPs, there is not a basis for treating spot bitcoin products differently from bitcoin futures products,” said Davis Polk & Wardwell in a letter to the regulator.

According to CNBC, Grayscale had a private meeting with the SEC earlier this month to “persuade” the regulator that bitcoin futures and spot ETFs should be treated the same. 

However, Grayscale is considering legal action if the regulator fails to give approval before a deadline of July 6.

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