Hargreaves Lansdown, the U.K.’s largest retail investment platform with two million investors, has begun offering nine bitcoin and ether exchange-traded notes (ETNs), reversing course less than a year after warning clients against crypto investments.
The firm’s new listings include products from BlackRock’s iShares, CoinShares, WisdomTree, 21Shares, Invesco and Bitwise, with annual fees ranging from 0% to 0.35%, it announced on Thursday.
The move comes less than a year after the platform warned retail investors against investing in cryptocurrencies and 11 months after the U.K. financial watchdog lifted its four-year ban on crypto ETNs for retail investors.
The Bristol-based firm said bitcoin, despite its long-term price gains, “is not an asset class” and lacks the intrinsic characteristics that would justify including it in a portfolio for growth or income. It also said bitcoin’s price history showed periods of “extreme losses,” and it “shouldn’t be relied upon” to help clients meet financial goals.
Hargreaves Lansdown, which has over $200 billion in assets under management, said the change in U.K. rules now allows it to offer regulated crypto investment products, while requiring clients to understand the risks before they trade.
Before investors are allowed to trade, Hargreaves Lansdown requires new buyers to complete an appropriateness assessment and wait 24 hours before buying. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lifted its ban on crypto ETPs in October and now requires firms to assess whether retail clients have the knowledge to understand the risks of crypto ETNs, including the risk of losing all of their investment.
The decision matters because Hargreaves Lansdown provides bitcoin and ether exposure access to two million clients through a mainstream investing service rather than a crypto exchange.
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