European white label ETP issuer HANetf has unveiled a dedicated platform for the development and distribution of crypto asset exchange-traded products.
Nik Bienkowski, co-Founder and co-CEO, HANetf.
Having debuted its first ETP in September 2018, HANetf currently boasts a roster of 44 products from around 20 clients. The firm’s line-up, which collectively houses around $1.7 billion in assets, includes a diverse range of UCITS ETFs as well as physically backed gold and carbon ETPs.
In terms of its existing digital asset capabilities, HANetf currently distributes 14 single coin crypto ETPs on behalf of ETC Group. The suite includes directly backed products on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Solana, Cardano, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, Tezos, Polkadot, Uniswap, Polygon, Cosmos, and Avalanche.
The $380 million BTCetc – ETC Group Physical Bitcoin ETP (BTCE) and $70m ETHetc – ETC Group Physical Ethereum (ZETH), in particular, are amongst the most liquid in Europe and have become go-to products for institutional investors wishing to gain direct access to the world’s two largest crypto assets.
HANetf intends to continue working closely with ETC Group to expand its line-up while expecting products from new clients to enhance the total offering. According to HANetf, the firm’s objective is to provide the most extensive crypto ETP platform globally. In this vein, HANetf notes it has received 53 inquiries recently regarding the creation of new crypto-related ETPs despite elevated market volatility in the segment.
New clients on the platform will be able to choose between a “full service” model or a more basic model which may be of interest to managers with existing distribution networks or particular target markets in mind.
Crucially, the crypto ETP platform will be fully integrated with HANetf’s existing UCITS platform, benefitting from that deep ecosystem of more than 60 distribution networks, 28 liquidity providers, and a pan-European reach accumulated over the past four years. Clients will be able to reduce their effective launch timeline to only a couple of months as well as benefit from a shared cost model versus a full cost model of setting up a proprietary platform.
HANetf’s announcement of its new crypto ETP platform comes after the digital assets industry has fallen dramatically in recent months, crashing from a total market capitalization of more than $3 trillion at the end of 2021 to under $1 trillion today.
However, HANetf notes that the crypto industry stood at just $57bn five years ago. Additionally, with the increasingly influential millennials and other younger generations being big supporters of the segment’s potential, HANetf believes the long-term trend of the asset class is still one of immense growth.
Nik Bienkowski, co-CEO and co-Founder of HANetf, commented: “It is clear to us that many, despite the recent sell-off, view cryptocurrencies as playing a vital role in our digital future. For the investor trying to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies, we believe there is no doubt that the ETP wrapper is one of the best ways to do so. With this new platform, we will be able to provide innovative new ETPs to the European market.
“We believe many mainstream asset managers and product providers like investment banks have regulatory, operational, and infrastructure challenges with crypto, and an outsourced solution via HANetf makes a lot of sense.”