KNC’s XBT Provider Launches First Ever Bitcoin Exchange Traded Note on Swedish NASDAQ

Announcing the launch of a financial product called “Bitcoin Tracker One”, XBT Provider has created the world's first regulated Bitcoin exchange-traded note.

Working with Stockholm based brokerage and investment bank Mangold Fondkommission, XBT Provider has received the approval of the Swedish financial supervisory body Finansinspektionen. This authorization means that the financial note “Bitcoin Tracker One” is allowed to be traded on the Stockholm Nasdaq Nordic.

Speaking about the news, Alexander Marsh, CEO of XBT Provider explained how he hoped the move would allow more investors to feel they can safely speculate on Bitcoin.

"We are proud to offer the world`s first "Bitcoin tracker" to be traded on a regulated exchange. By enabling this easy and secure way to invest in Bitcoin we hope to have eliminated the boundaries that earlier prevented individuals and companies from being able to actively invest in what we believe to be the future of money."

The first day of trading is expected to be May 18, and individuals interested in the trading note will need to use a broker with a membership to the Nasdaq Nordic exchange.

Tracking the price of Bitcoin the US Dollar, Bitcoin Tracker One will be averaging the BTC/USD trading price from BitFinex, BitStamp, and OKCoin, subtracting a service fee, and translating the final number into Swedish krona. The movement of this figure will give investors, including hedge funds and pension funds, the chance to expose themselves to rising and falling of Bitcoin's price within a traditional trading framework.

Unlike efforts on the other side of the Atlantic by the Winklevoss twins, and the Bitcoin Investment Trust, the nature of this “exchange traded note” means that the value of the Tracker can not only be affected by moves in the USD/BTC price, but also by the credit rating of the issuer, XBT Provider. The exchange traded note also comes with a pre-determined maturity date, at which the issues cashes out the purchaser’s note.

At the time of publication there are unconfirmed rumors on a Reddit discussion thread that the XBT Provider plans to maintain the investments as fully backed, meaning that all investments would be translated into actual BTC.

The company behind this, XBT Provider, is part of the well-known Swedish KNC group. Most famous for the Arctic based cloud mining service KNC Cloud Miner, the group has recently been sued by some of its customers over the delivery and performance of KNCMiner's ASIC mining rigs.