The First Bitcoin ETF in Europe Goes Listed in Amsterdam

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Good crypto news come from Europe. The first Bitcoin ETF is now listed in Amsterdam and regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and will trade under the ticket BCOIN. What does that mean? Well, while it doesn’t move the needle for most people, it’s a big move in the cryptocurrency industry. The listing means that Europe sees a Bitcoin ETF traded before the USA. Despite dozens of applications, the SEC simply hasn’t issued any capable candidate the required license for an ETF.

London-based Jacobi Management has just listed BCOIN on Euronext Amsterdam. It comes nearly two years after it was announced and approved. The Jacobi Wilshere Bitcoin EFT is regulated by the GFSC, with the ticket coming almost two years after it won approval for its fun in October 2021.

Plans Pushed to the Side

After Jacobi won the approval for the fund in late 2021, the plan was to list the Bitcoin ETF in 2022. However, that didn’t happen on purpose. The firm eventually decided to postpone its plans because of the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and later FTX’s demise. It comes at just the right time, with Jacobi being the first to offer an ETF. Exchange-traded notes or ETNs are pretty common in Europe, but Bitcoin ETFs are the first of their kind.

ETF shareholders own a portion of the underlying shares, while ETNs investors own a debt security. Jacobi revealed that its ETF can’t be leveraged or use derivatives like ETNs, which makes it all the much better.

On average, it was expected that the first Bitcoin ETF will go live in the USA. But, despite many applicants, the SEC still hasn’t found the ideal candidate. Due to that, Europe will see a Bitcoin ETF before the USA, which was once a pipe dream. The good news is that a Bitcoin fund might be registered in the USA, with BlackRock being the ideal candidate among the flurry of applications.

What’s the Key to Crypto Taxes?

Moving on for ETFs which come as a new unknown in the world of crypto, every government is now trying to find the right cubbyhole or a hole in the law in order to tax crypto. Various tax positions have been taken so far. The IRS is still not certain how to proceed moving forward, but it seems to become clear that the right approach would be tax cubbyholes.

Some industry participants believe that cryptocurrencies need new tax rules. Considering how fresh they are, they might not be wrong. On the negative side, it means a lot of work to define new digital assets, and not everyone is keen on that matter. The government may end up deciding new rules for such assets within the cubbyhole, with an existing tax bucket for each new idea.

But, in order to define the crypto taxes, a lot of work remains. The IRS believes that crypto should be treated like property, although the IRS notice from 2014 doesn’t state what digital assets are. So, it’s all in a legal grey area for the moment, but everyone’s hoping to hear more news on the matter. The SEC isn’t that keep on the idea for crypto, and that will surely interfere with this decision.