In 2021, cryptoassets were traded for the first time on the Stock Exchange

The year 2021 is coming to an end and will forever be a milestone in bitcoin’s history. Besides registering numerous price records in the last twelve months, regulated products based on cryptossets were traded through stock exchanges for the first time in the financial market.

This year, bitcoin experienced a significant adoption in the financial market by trading regulated index funds (ETFs). Also, in February 2021, Canada was the first country in the world to approve bitcoin ETF trading through the stock exchange.

Although Canada approved the first bitcoin ETF, it was in the Bermuda Islands that the world’s first cryptoasset ETF listing actually took place.

With a difference of only two days between the launches of the two ETFs, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index (HASH11) – launched on February 9, 2021, in the Bermuda Islands – was deemed the world’s first approved cryptoasset ETF.

Shortly after these approvals, Brazil also presented ETFs with exposure to cryptoassets, thus inaugurating the entry of the crypto market in B3. 

World’s first bitcoin ETF

The considerable appreciation of bitcoin in late 2020 spurred the race for its adoption in the financial market in 2021, with crypto products arriving on exchanges.

On February 11, 2021, Canada’s Ontario Provincial Securities Commission made history on bitcoin’s trajectory by approving the world’s first cryptoasset ETF. Called the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC), the fund project was submitted by the company Purpose Investments.

In Brazil, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) approved trading the first cryptoasset ETF on March 17, 2021, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index (HASH11).

In addition to bitcoin, this index fund represents a basket with exposure to other digital currencies, such as ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), chainlink (LINK), bitcoin cash (BCH), Uniswap (UNI), Stellar (XLM), and filecoin (FIL).

SEC finally approves Futures ETF

While other countries approved cryptoasset ETFs in the early months of 2021, the United States ratified the first index fund with bitcoin exposure in October.

Traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the first bitcoin ETF approved by the United States is BITO. With the price pegged to bitcoin futures, the index fund with cryptoassets was introduced by ProShares.

By 2021, bitcoin and other cryptoassets have made their way to the traditional financial market, ushering in a new way of trading digital currencies.