Swiss Crypto ETP Issuer Hits $1 billion in AuM Mark

22 February 2021 - Zürich - The Swiss pioneering fintech ETP issuer, 21Shares AG has officially passed the $1 billion mark in assets under management across its diversified 12 crypto asset ETPs. In just over 2 years, 21Shares AG has witnessed a 200-fold increase in its assets and joined the select elite ETF/ETP issuer list with over $1 billion in assets.

The success of the Swiss startup can largely be attributed to two phenomena:

1. A rapid appreciation and acceptance from institutional investors in the crypto asset industry. Since its lows of USD$ 5,000 in March 2020, Bitcoin has grown to over $55,000 in February 2021. Furthermore, the usage of the Ethereum network has increased from $950 million to over $43 billion in the same time period. The exorbitant growth in asset prices has sparked demand globally from institutional investors in this niche asset class.
2. It’s proven track record listing physically-backed ETPs gives retail and institutional investors safe, convenient and easy access to cryptocurrencies via a familiar structure. Institutions in Europe and elsewhere prefer the institutional-grade structure of the Swiss ETP over certificates in order to gain exposure in the most efficient and safest way to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Swiss ETP structure - first utilised by 21Shares AG via the HODL crypto basket ETP - shares many characteristics of traditional ETF structures such as an approved EU prospectus, listing on regulated European exchanges, open ended using creations/redemptions to prevent premiums and discounts, full segregation and collateralisation of the underlying assets and utilising many ETF market makers for intraday liquidity. Since the Swiss ETP structure is not constrained by the UCITs diversification requirements, it is ideally suited to give investors safe access to more nascent and desired asset classes.

“We are extremely excited to have reached a critical milestone in such a short period of time. The growth in 21Shares ETP’s business is largely due to the incredible efforts of our team and the loyalty and trust of our investors.” said Ophelia Snyder, co-Founder and President of 21Shares.