The Netherlands has welcomed a new equity exchange-traded (ETF) fund that will give investors exposure to a basket of Bitcoin (BTC)-related company stocks.
French investment firm Melanion Capital’s Bitcoin Equities ETF began trading on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange on June 22, introducing an equities-based approach to investing in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The ETF is designed to track the Melanion Bitcoin Exposure Index, which is a custom basket of European and American stocks closely tied to BTC’s market price.
The ETF complies with the European Commission’s Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) regulatory framework for managing and trading mutual funds.
UCITS funds allow investment firms to register and sell trading products across the European Union by providing regulatory and investor protection requirements.
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Melanion Capital CEO Jad Comair said the firm’s expansion to the Euronext Amsterdam exchange gives Dutch investors a “regulated and transparent solution” to gain exposure to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
“The Dutch market has shown tremendous interest in digital assets, and we are delighted to offer them an avenue to access this exciting investment opportunity within a regulated framework.”
Melanion’s Bitcoin Exposure Index comprises stocks from companies with significant investments in Bitcoin holdings, cryptocurrency exchanges and mining operations.
The index includes the likes of MicroStrategy, which under Michael Saylor’s guidance, has acquired over 140,000 BTC valued at over $12.6 billion as of April 2023. Coinbase and Robinhood are two notable exchange platforms, while mining firms like Riot, Marathon Digital and Hut8 also form part of Melanion’s stock index.
The firm notes that the ETF aims to remain correlated to the market performance of Bitcoin, although a minimum correlation threshold has not been established. Melanion’s Bitcoin Equities ETF is also listed on the Euronext Paris and Euronext Milan stock exchanges.
Bitcoin ETFs have been in the headlines in June 2023, with the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, filing an application for a Bitcoin spot ETF with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
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