Germany’s first Bitcoin ETF launches today!

It might be hard to believe, but it’s true: from this morning German traders can invest in a bitcoin ETF. Exchange Tradegate has included the Swedish BITCOIN XBT in its portfolio. With this, Germany becomes the largest market on which traditional investors can place their bet on bitcoin’s price with an ETF.

From May 18^th the ETF BITCOIN XBT has been traded on the Swedish exchange Nasdaq Nordic. The rising demand – on some days 2,000 BTC worth of shares have been traded – could be the reason that Tradegate included the ETF on its platform. From this morning XBT is included on Tradegate. The WKN-Number is A18KCN. Investors buy shares that represent 0.005 bitcoin. (200 shares are equivalent to one Bitcoin.)

Dennis Daiber, CEO of BitcoinCommodities and stock broker, explained: ‘With an ETF, bitcoins as an investment are stored directly in the depot, like stocks, ETFs or any other kind of asset. In this way millions of small investors who have monitored bitcoin with fascination but suspicion can take part in trading this new asset – without the need to learn about addresses, paper wallets, passphrases and backups.’

Legal issues should not be a problem for Tradegate, say Daiber: ‘Since an ETF is traded anywhere in the world, it can be adopted by any German exchange – if there is interest in it.’

Currently the bid for a share is 1,188 and the ask 1,237. This is equivalent to a bitcoin price of EUR 237.60 and EUR 248.60. On both sides there are currently 2,000 shares on the order book. There have so far been zero sales. (data at 11:24 o’clock).

Tradegate is Germany’s second largest exchange, with its headquarters in Berlin.