London-based ETC Group, the firm responsible for listing the first crypto exchange-traded product on Germany’s Xetra digital stock exchange, will offer a new listing for Litecoin.
In an announcement today, the ETC Group said its physical Litecoin exchanged-traded crypto, under the ticker ELTC, will be launching on Deutsche Börse Xetra on April 14. According to the firm, the exchange-traded product, or ETP, will be the first Litecoin (LTC) product on the exchange following approval from Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin.
"The current economic uncertainty has underlined the attraction of crypto assets for investors as they offer opportunities for diversification from traditional assets such as equities and bonds, and strong hedging qualities against inflation,” said ETC Group CEO Bradley Duke. "Traditional markets will remain volatile for some time, fueling demand for alternatives such as cryptocurrencies.”
He added:
“In contrast to previous rallies in cryptocurrencies, the current one is the first to be supported by both retail and institutional investors, making this the ideal time to launch ELTC."
The ETC Group’s Litecoin ETP represents the third exchange-traded crypto from the group in the last year. In June, the firm listed a Bitcoin ETP on Xetra, followed by an Ether ETP last month. The firm reported that its Ether ETP traded more than $1 million in its first week on the exchange, while the Bitcoin ETP reportedly has grown to more than $1 billion in assets under management.
An ETP is not quite the same as an exchange-traded fund, or ETF. When the ETC Group launched its Bitcoin ETP last year, it said it was “trading Bitcoin through an ETP structure,” which seemingly doesn’t meet the definition of an ETF in the European Union, as it’s a single asset instrument.
As the ninth largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of more than $20 billion, Litecoin has attracted the attention of some investment firms along with Bitcoin and Ether. Though the ETC Group will reportedly be the first to offer a listing for a physical Litecoin ETP, CoinShares announced earlier this month it would be listing its LTC ETP on the SIX Swiss Exchange.