UniCredit to Offer BlackRock Bitcoin ETF-Linked Product for Some Clients
UniCredit SpA will offer its professional clients a structured product tied to BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF that features full protection against losses, as European banks seek new ways to tap into appetite for digital assets.
The bank plans to issue a five-year, dollar-denominated investment certificate linked to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF which will offer a 100% capital protection at maturity, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News and confirmed by the bank.
The maximum return is capped at 85% of the ETF’s performance and the minimum investment threshold is $25,000, according to the memo. Bitcoin has gained about 14% this year in sharp contrast to many smaller crypto tokens, which have suffered steep declines.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust (ticker: IBIT) was among the first batch of wildly successful ETFs approved in the US in January 2024, and has since ballooned to oversee $75 billion. BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, launched a separate Bitcoin exchange-traded product in Europe earlier this year.
“We are seeing increasing interest from professional investors in instruments tied to emerging asset classes such as cryptocurrencies,” said Chicco di Stasi, head of Group Investment Product Solutions and Equity & Credit Sales and Trading at UniCredit, in an emailed statement. “With this product, we offer our professional clients a distinctive solution —the first of its kind in Italy.”
The UniCredit certificate will be available to UniCredit professional clients in Italy from July 1 to July 28, according to the memo.
Rival bank Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Italy’s largest banking group, made its first spot Bitcoin purchase in January and runs a digital-asset trading desk. Spain’s Banco Santander SA is considering an expansion in digital assets, including early-stage plans to offer a stablecoin and access to cryptocurrencies for retail clients of its digital bank.
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