Beginning tomorrow, retailers in the UK should buy Bitcoin exchange-traded notes (ETNs). This funding car affords traders oblique publicity to Bitcoin. It has been banned within the nation since 2021.
Consultants welcome the initiative taken by the UK’s monetary providers regulator. They warn, nonetheless, that the transfer falls wanting providing direct entry to cryptocurrencies.
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UK Reverses 4-Yr Crypto ETN Ban
On October 8, the UK’s Monetary Conduct Authority (FCA) will carry its ban on crypto ETNs for retail traders. The change is a serious turning level within the UK’s method to digital property, reversing a four-year-old restriction.
An exchange-traded observe (ETN) is an unsecured debt safety issued by a monetary establishment. It’s designed to trace and expose traders to the returns of a selected index or market benchmark.
🇬🇧 The FCA is lifting its ban on Bitcoin ETNs, retail entry begins 8 October 2025.
For the primary time since 2021, UK traders will be capable to purchase regulated Bitcoin publicity by way of conventional funding platforms.
Let’s unpack what this implies 👇
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A Bitcoin ETN…
— 🇬🇧 The Bitcoin & Crypto Accountant 🇬🇧🚀 (@Thesecretinves2) October 6, 2025
Particularly, the FCA’s reversal will allow retail traders to entry ETNs referencing Bitcoin or Ethereum. These merchandise have to be listed on a acknowledged funding change, such because the London Inventory Change. They will even be topic to strict itemizing, disclosure, and distribution requirements.
For these not prepared to speculate instantly in cryptocurrencies, an ETN affords an easier car, as shopping for the observe doesn’t require direct possession of the underlying crypto asset.
“Access matters, and lifting the ETN restriction is a welcome step in the right direction, said Susie Violet Ward, CEO of Bitcoin Policy UK, adding, “What is important now is that the UK builds on this momentum.”
The FCA’s reversal marks a shift from outright prohibition to a method of regulated inclusion.
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‘Symbolic Gesture’: Why an ETN Isn’t Sufficient
In recent times, the UK has lagged within the world competitors to turn into a dominant hub for digital property. Critics have particularly focused the nation’s monetary providers regulator for overregulation, which is seen as stifling innovation.
In 2021, the FCA prohibited promoting, advertising and marketing, and distributing derivatives and ETNs referencing cryptoassets to all retail shoppers. It cited issues like excessive volatility, valuation issue, and market abuse.
Although the ban on ETNs has been reversed, the prohibition of derivatives like choices and futures stays in place for retail traders attributable to ongoing issues over shopper safety.
In line with Ward, the FCA’s earlier restrictive method didn’t successfully defend shoppers however merely curtailed their decisions and market entry.
“The UK has fallen behind not because of a lack of interest in Bitcoin but because of overregulation that has stifled innovation and driven opportunity offshore. The FCA’s approach has not protected consumers, it has limited them,” Ward informed BeInCrypto.
She added that reversing the crypto ETN ban is not going to be sufficient to spice up the UK’s world competitiveness meaningfully.
“An ETN is a debt instrument, not a spot Bitcoin ETF. It is an odd choice to reopen the door through a more complex, credit-linked product rather than one backed by the underlying asset itself. Still, it is progress.”
The pure subsequent step for her could be to permit retailers to entry crypto property instantly.
“Allowing properly structured and transparent spot Bitcoin products would demonstrate genuine commitment to financial innovation and consumer choice. We should not settle for symbolic gestures when there is an opportunity to lead,” Ward concluded.
