21Shares Launches First Physically Backed Bitcoin ETP in Dubai

• 21Shares AG launch first physically-backed ETP on Nasdaq Dubai.
• The ETP will trade under the ticker ABTC.
• The listing came after a $25 million investment round from parent company 21.co.

On Wednesday, 21.co, a provider of cryptocurrency investment products, said that its subsidiary, 21Shares AG, has launched a bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) on Nasdaq Dubai, making it the first physically-backed bitcoin ETP in the Middle East.

The launch follows a $25 million investment round headed by the hedge fund Marshall Wace last month, valuing 21.co at about $2 billion. 21.co CEO Hany Rashwan has previously said the business aims to have all of its products (including single-asset crypto ETPs and indexes) available in “every single geography.”

According to a statement released by 21.co, the 21Shares Bitcoin ETP will trade under the ticker ABTC in the same fashion as the 21Shares Bitcoin ETP in Europe. With the addition of Dubai, 21.co now counts 46 listed 21Shares products across seven countries.

Sherif El-Haddad, who joined the company in August as Middle East head, said in a statement, “The UAE, and broader [Gulf Cooperation Council], is a market of significant strategic importance to our business, and we are excited about the opportunity this market opens to us.”

Last week, on-chain analytics platform Chainalysis released a report indicating that the Middle East and North Africa is the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency market, with the volume of crypto received increasing by 48% in the year to June.

According to the report, between July 2021 and June 2022, the Middle East received $566 billion worth of cryptocurrencies.

In a statement, 21Shares CEO and co-founder Hany Rashwan said the business “will continue to support the Middle East’s ambitions to become a global crypto hub.”