21Shares, a major provider of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products, or ETP, is launching the world’s first Polkadot (DOT) ETP.
The new product, DOT ETP, will be listed on the Swiss SIX exchange on Feb. 4, 2021, 21Shares announced Tuesday.
The new ETP comes shortly after Polkadot was added to 21Shares’ major ETP product Crypto Basket ETP (HODL) on Jan. 29. Tracking five major cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), HODL has removed Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and is now listing Polkadot as the second-largest constituent after Bitcoin.
According to HODL ETP data from MVIS indices, Polkadot now accounts for about 27% of the product, while Bitcoin makes up around 50% of the ETP.
A spokesperson for 21Shares told Cointelegraph that the company does not make decisions on adding or deleting a certain asset from the HODL ETP. The representative stated that such decisions are up to MV Index Solutions. “As an issuer, we cannot decide what to add and delete [...] They have a committee which decides which constituents are added, increased, reduced or outright taken out.”
According to the announcement, the addition of Polkadot to the 21shares Crypto Basket ETP makes it the “perfect timing to add an additional single asset ETP to the already wide range of crypto ETPs” offered by 21shares.
21Shares CEO Hany Rashwan emphasized that the company remains committed to the demand seen from institutional investors. “After investors purchase their first Bitcoins through our ETPs, there is a natural transition to invest in other crypto assets,” Rashwan said. He added that the firm plans to add two or three more ETPs in the next three months:
“We benefit from trusted partners for the liquidity provision and upon continued institutional demand, we are launching the DOT ETP to give investors a safe, regulated, and easy way to obtain exposure to this exciting new blockchain technology. In the next 3 months, we aim to add 2 to 3 more innovative ETPs.”
Polkadot is a next-generation blockchain protocol connecting multiple specialized blockchains into one unified network. In mid-January 2021. Polkadot’s native token DOT made the headlines by overtaking XRP as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency. At the time of writing, DOT is trading at $16.82, up nearly 5% over the past 24 hours and around 82% over the past 30 days, according to data from CoinGecko.