Guernsey has approved its first cryptocurrency fund, after the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) authorised Jacobi Asset Management to launch the world’s first Tier 1 Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The fund, approved on 15 October, is available to institutional investors.
Approval will be sought from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK to list it on the UK-based arm of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, at which point it will become a Tier 1 ETF.
The ETF was designed by Guernsey-based regulatory consultancy Midshore Consulting, led by Managing Director Christopher Jehan (pictured), who is also Head of Fund Architecture at Jacobi and a former Chair of the Guernsey Investment & Funds Association.
The legal work was performed by Collas Crill, led by Partner Wayne Atkinson and Senior Associate Gareth Morgan.
Midshore has worked with Jacobi since early 2021 to design and develop the fund and its operating model, ensuring that strict Guernsey regulatory requirements have been met.
Christopher Jehan commented: “This project required early and frequent engagement with the GFSC and development of a key controls framework to ensure that regulatory requirements were kept in mind throughout the project.
“It is a great achievement to be able to show that Guernsey is open for financial services products involving crypto assets.”
Jacobi CEO Jamie Khurshid added: “We are de-risking investments in crypto by removing the technology risk associated with the physical asset and the counterparty risk associated with traditional funds or tracker products that are unregulated leveraged debt instruments.”