The UK’s financial regulator will allow some bitcoin-linked securities to be listed on the stock market, in a softening of its tough stance on digital assets as investors around the world snap up funds investing directly in cryptocurrencies. The Financial Conduct Authority said on Monday it would “not object” to the creation of bitcoin and ethereum-backed exchange traded notes for professional investors.
Issuers can apply to list notes that are linked to the bitcoin and ethereum coins on the London Stock Exchange from April. ETNs are debt securities that track an underlying asset but are traded and settled through a central market entity like a stock exchange and securities depository. The news helped push bitcoin and ethereum higher. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit $72,000 for the first time while ethereum touched $4,000 for the first time since December 202