The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) has approved the launch of a centrally-cleared Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Jacobi Asset Management. Guernsey is not part of either the USA or the UK, but instead is a British Crown Dependency located on a small island in the Channel Islands archipelago.
While the Securities and Exchange Commission hesitates to approve crypto-backed funds, they have already started to appear, showing that the U.S. agency is not the only cryptocurrency regulator and obviously not the most loyal one.
The world’s only tier one Bitcoin ETF
It was officially announced that the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF will be listed on CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange) Europe if it is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The company’s CEO Jamie Khurshid stated that Jacobi Asset Management was excited about launching a new product to track the performance of Bitcoin.
He said, “We are de-risking investments in crypto by removing the technology risk associated with the physical asset and the counterparty risk associated with traditional funds or tracker products, that are unregulated leveraged debt instruments.”
Direct participation
Roy McGregor, Chairman of Jacobi Asset Management and former CEO of Credit Suisse Channel Islands, stated that the Jacobi ETF aimed to “finally bring digital assets wholly into the mainstream investment infrastructure with the support of the leading firms we are working with”.
He said, “It will provide investors with the opportunity to participate directly in physically settled Bitcoin.”
