Grayscale to launch digital assets ETF in UK, Italy, Germany

By Elizabeth Howcroft

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Grayscale will list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Europe made up of companies representing the "Future of Finance", the world's largest cryptocurrency asset manager said in a statement on Monday.

The ETF, tracking the "Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index", will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, Italy's Borsa Italiana and Germany's Deutsche Börse Xetra and begin trading on May 17. It is the first time that U.S.-based Grayscale has listed a fund in Europe.

The index contains a mixture of companies involved in digital currencies including asset managers, exchanges, brokers, technology firms, as well as firms directly involved in cryptocurrency mining.

"For us, the digital economy is... primarily being driven through the proliferation of digital assets," said Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein.

In February, Grayscale launched an ETF in New York to track the same index. It was trading at around $14.69 on March 13, down from nearly $26 on Feb 1, according to a tracker on Grayscale's website.

Retail trading platform Robinhood, payments firm PayPal (PYPL), and fintech firm Block were the index's top three holdings as of March 13, the website said.

Cryptocurrencies and crypto-related stocks have fallen in recent weeks, as investors dumped riskier assets over fears about high inflation and major central banks tightening policy.

Last week, bitcoin plunged to as low as $25,401.05, wiping out its gains from 2021. (Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Jason Neely)