Figment and Apex Group have announced that they will launch crypto ETPs on Ethereum and Solana on the Zurich stock exchange.
The new ETPs on Ethereum and Solana will be launched on the SIX Swiss Exchange through Issuance.Swiss AG on March 12, 2024.
Figment Europe Ltd. is a provider of institutional staking services for institutions, while Issuance.Swiss is a Swiss turnkey solution for financial product issuances provided by Apex Fund Services.
This partnership combines Figment’s technological expertise in staking with Issuance.Swiss’s financial product issuance program.
Zurich Stock Exchange: The new crypto ETPs on Ethereum and Solana
These new ETPs (Exchange Traded Products) will allow convenient access to rewards from staking, even through traditional brokers or banks, in order to lower entry barriers to a wider audience.
The Figment Ethereum Plus Staking Rewards ETP will have the ticker ETHF and ISIN CH1327686031, while the Figment Solana Plus Staking Rewards ETP will have the ticker SOLF and ISIN CH1327686049.
Both will have a management fee of 1.5%.
These are funds fully collateralized respectively in physical ETH and SOL, but they will be easily purchasable on the stock exchange and obviously do not require investors to handle the underlying tokens.
Investors will thus be able to benefit from a percentage exceeding 50% of the premium on the staking of the underlying tokens, and Figment Europe’s infrastructure also allows these products to earn rewards from the issuance of new tokens, transaction fees, aiming to provide investors with the maximum potential rewards.
Liquidity on the stock exchange will be guaranteed by existing ETP market makers.
The Zurich Stock Exchange
SIX Swiss Exchange is the stock exchange of Zurich, the most important in Switzerland.
The Zurich stock exchange was founded in 1873, but only in 1995 it became SWX by merging with those of Geneva and Basel. In 2008 it changed its name again to SIX.
It is one of the 20 largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalization.
Its Swiss Market Index (SMI) includes stocks such as Nestlé, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche, Richemont, UBS, Swisscom, and Logitech.
It already hosts several ETP cryptos, such as the 21Shares Bitcoin ETP (ABTC) or the Coinshares Physical Bitcoin (BITC).
It was one of the very first traditional value bags in the world to open up to the crypto sector.
The price of crypto ETPs on Ethereum and Solana
Both ETPs will replicate the performance of an index provided by MarketVector.
In particular, ETHF will replicate the MarketVector Figment Ethereum Reward Index (MVETHF), which is a total return index. According to Figment, ETHF will be the first product of its kind to use an index capable of tracking all sources of rewards that validators earn both at the consensus and execution level.
The index actually measures the performance of the price of ETH, but also takes into account the rewards earned on staking from the product itself.
It is also an adaptable index, which offers the possibility to dynamically change the proportion of assets in staking, the capitalization frequency, and the staking fees throughout the product’s duration.
The comments
The CEO of Figment, Lorien Gabel, stated:
“We have worked hard to be able to support the launch of the first ETP with staking on Ethereum and Solana by Issuance.Swiss AG on a regulated trading venue here in Switzerland. Our goal is now almost complete and marks an important step towards the introduction of staking products in conventional ETP form for the still emerging cryptocurrency market. I am proud that the Figment team continues to be a pioneer in innovation and to bring institutional-grade staking products to the market.”
The Head of Figment Europe, Eva Lawrence, commented:
“We remain committed to meeting the unprecedented demand we are seeing from institutional investors looking to focus on exposure. Figment remains at the forefront in providing access to staking, allowing for the creation of innovative yet simple staking products for financial markets. Our expertise and experience reflect the clear advantage we have over other market participants.”
Finally, Figment’s institutional business development manager, Josh Deems, added:
“The popularity and interest in ETH and SOL have increased substantially in recent months. However, for institutions it is still difficult to buy cryptocurrencies and stake directly. ETPs will contribute to greater accessibility to staking rewards for a wide audience, and we at Figment are proud that Apex and Issuance.Swiss have chosen Figment to be part of this development.”