A platform that helps asset managers launch exchange-traded funds is expanding its offering into the crypto space, saying the sector has the potential to integrate.
HanETF, which was created by former WisdomTree executives Hector McNeil and Nik Bienkowski in 2017, says it has received more than 50 approaches over the past year from asset managers and other financial services firms looking to launch crypto products.
HanETF, which provides a white-label service for ETF product development, fulfillment, marketing and distribution services, has around 20 clients and more than 40 ETFs and exchange-traded products, including gold ETCs and carbon-backed, ETF-like products that trade on an exchange and track a single commodity or currency.
It is now expanding its capabilities to allow companies to market crypto products, according to an Aug. 18 statement.
The company already has a relationship with specialist crypto ETP provider ETC Group, which helps distribute several of its products, including its Physical Bitcoin and Physical Ethereum ETCs.
TO READ Invesco sees ‘crypto spring’ after crash wipes out demand for digital assets: ‘We’ll see people come back’
McNeil told Financial News that despite the recent volatility among cryptocurrencies, asset managers have accepted that they are “here to stay.”
“Not only have they woken up to it, but they have been working on it for a long time. I would hazard a guess that most asset managers have someone dedicated to looking at crypto or a small team working on it,” he said.
McNeil added that HanETF would target asset managers and mainstream banks with its new crypto platform, saying some would struggle with regulatory and infrastructure requirements to launch their own products.
HanETF’s crypto push comes after Invesco, the $1.4 trillion US asset manager that launched one of Europe’s first bitcoin products, predicted a “crypto spring” will spur professional investors back to digital assets.
Invesco announced it had entered the European crypto market in November with the launch of a physical bitcoin ETP, which has amassed $69 million in assets. Its bitcoin ETP came two years after it introduced its blockchain ETF, which has since grown to $590 million.
TO READ Fintech files: Institutions dive into digital assets, but anti-crypto resistance is growing
But according to data from CoinShares, digital assets have seen $492 million in net flows globally since the start of 2022, a significant decrease from the $6.5 billion they achieved during the same period in 2021.
“While there have been very few asset flows, we will see people move back into this space as we return to a path of more consistent volatility,” Gary Buxton, head of the ETF business, told FN Invesco in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. recently
“As we move out of crypto winter into crypto spring, we will be well positioned,” he said.
Other asset managers have launched dedicated crypto products based on strong demand from large professional investors, including Fidelity International, which launched its physical bitcoin ETP in Europe in February.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, recently announced a tie-up with crypto exchange Coinbase, a move BlackRock said would help some of its biggest clients trade bitcoins through its Aladdin platform.
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To contact the author of this story with comments or news, please email David Ricketts
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