Malta financial watchdog approves Iconic's crypto index fund for stock market listing

Iconic Funds claims its index fund will be Europe’s first with direct exposure to crypto assets listed on a regulated market.

The Malta Financial Services Authority has greenlit the crypto asset index fund from asset manager Iconic Funds for listing on the Malta Stock Exchange.

In an Wednesday announcement, Iconic Funds said it expected to list its BITA20 XA Crypto Asset Index Fund on the exchange “in the coming days,” with the fund offering direct exposure to cryptocurrencies. The fund invests most of its capital in the top 20 cryptocurrencies in addition to depositing tokens into certain staking and interest-bearing accounts. According to Iconic, only individuals who qualify—and not the general public—will be eligible to invest in the fund.

“While the crypto world seems hyper focused on the ever-elusive spot Bitcoin ETF, we decided to stay ahead of the curve and list the Iconic BITA20 XA Crypto Asset Index Fund on a regulated market in Europe,” said Iconic Funds CEO Patrick Lowry. “Investors are actively seeking access to crypto beyond just Bitcoin, and we hope our fund’s listing gives professional investors more opportunity to gain exposure to the crypto market.”

While Malta is greenlighting crypto index funds, United States regulators are finally moving forward approving Bitcoin (BTC) futures-linked exchange-traded funds. This week, the Bitcoin Strategy ETF from ProShares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange prior to BTC reaching an all-time high price approaching $67,000. In addition, filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission suggest that similar shares of ETFs from crypto-asset manager Valkyrie and asset manager VanEck may soon appear on exchanges.

Related: Crypto exposure has positive impact on investment portfolios, study shows

Iconic has already backed a Bitcoin exchange-traded product currently listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse’s digital stock exchange, Xetra. However, it claims the crypto index fund will be Europe’s first to provide direct exposure to crypto assets listed on a regulated market, with Coinbase Custody International acting as custodian.