BlackRock Eyes European Market with Bitcoin ETP, Its First Overseas Crypto Product

BlackRock Introduces Bitcoin ETP in Europe, Expanding Crypto Offerings Beyond U.S.

Global asset management giant BlackRock (BLK) has officially entered the European crypto market with the launch of its first bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) outside the U.S.

The newly listed iShares Bitcoin ETP is now trading on Xetra and Euronext Paris under the ticker IB1T, while Euronext Amsterdam features it as BTCN, according to iShares’ official listing data.

This expansion builds on the overwhelming success of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) in the U.S., which leads the market with over $50 billion in net assets and nearly $40 billion in net inflows, as tracked by SoSoValue. The firm also introduced a similar product in Canada earlier this year.

Though U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs made headlines in early 2024 as a milestone for institutional crypto adoption, Europe has long been a hub for bitcoin ETPs. Asset managers like CoinShares and 21Shares have established themselves as dominant players, collectively managing nine of the top 20 crypto ETPs. CoinShares’ Physical Bitcoin ETP, the largest in the region, currently holds $1.3 billion in assets with a 0.25% fee, per ETFbook data.

To attract investors, BlackRock is temporarily reducing the management fee on its European Bitcoin ETP to 0.15% until the end of 2025. As with its U.S. counterpart, Coinbase (COIN) will provide custody services for the fund.

The launch was initially reported by Bloomberg.

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