CoinShares has moved into Europe’s €26.3tn UCITS fund market with a new Bitcoin mining exchange-traded fund, in a bid to open up digital asset strategies to pension schemes, insurers and private banks whose investment rules previously blocked access to its products.
The digital asset investment firm said on Tuesday it had launched a dedicated UCITS platform alongside the debut of the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining UCITS ETF, allowing it to run regulated funds under one of Europe’s most widely used cross‐border structures.
The ETF, which provides exposure to companies involved in Bitcoin mining rather than holding Bitcoin directly, began trading on Deutsche Borse Xetra on Tuesday.
Structural barrier, not strategy shift
CoinShares said the move is aimed at removing a structural obstacle rather than introducing a radically new investment approach.
Many institutional mandates bar investments in certain forms of debt securities, including exchange‐traded products backed by physical digital assets. According to the firm, this has prevented a large segment of investors from allocating capital to its strategies despite increasing interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain‐related assets.
By adopting the UCITS framework – short for Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities – CoinShares says those investors can now access regulated digital asset vehicles via a format already embedded in their internal investment rules.
“This is not simply the launch of another investment product. It marks our entry into the UCITS market with a platform that allows us to develop and launch regulated investment funds under one of the world’s most widely recognised fund frameworks,” said CoinShares co‐founder, president and CEO Jean‐Marie Mognetti.
Targeting Europe’s mainstream institutions
UCITS funds are the backbone of Europe’s retail and institutional fund industry, widely used for cross‐border distribution across EU and associated markets. Many pension funds, insurance companies and private banks allocate significant portions of client money exclusively through UCITS‐compliant products.
CoinShares said the new platform is designed specifically to tap that existing channel, reaching investors whose mandates have kept them on the sidelines of digital assets.
The firm added that the UCITS platform operates on a largely fixed cost base, intended to create operating leverage as more funds are added. It expects to use the structure for both additional digital asset products and broader thematic strategies over time.
The launch comes against a backdrop of expansion for the Nasdaq‐listed company. CoinShares reported more than $165.7m in revenue in 2025, its first full year after listing in the United States earlier this year. Its shares closed 2.1% lower at $4.11 on Monday, the day before the announcement.
Internal rules seen as main crypto hurdle
The UCITS move follows a series of initiatives by CoinShares to deepen its reach into institutional markets beyond crypto exchange‐traded products.
Earlier this year, the firm published research suggesting that traditional wealth managers are often constrained by internal compliance rules when handling clients’ exposure to digital assets.
A June survey of 261 wealth management professionals across Europe found that 52% of UK financial advisers said most of their clients’ cryptocurrency holdings sat outside their visibility. In France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, that figure was 25%.
The same survey showed that 61% of respondents worked at firms that either restricted digital assets or had no formal policy covering them.
At the time, Mognetti argued that firm‐level policies, rather than adviser capability or client appetite, had become the main barrier. He said many advisers were unable to account for crypto positions when managing portfolios because company rules prevented them from discussing or supervising those assets, leaving them without a full picture of client wealth.
CoinShares said such restrictions create operational frictions, as advisers are expected to oversee portfolios while lacking insight into a portion of their clients’ investments.
Diverging institutional behaviour on Bitcoin
Institutional engagement with digital assets has remained uneven in recent months, influenced by market volatility and shifting risk appetite.
In a June research report based on US Securities and Exchange Commission 13F filings, CoinShares said hedge funds cut their exposure to US spot Bitcoin ETFs by 39% in the first quarter. Combined professional holdings fell from about 313,000 Bitcoin to 261,000 Bitcoin after a sharp price decline.
According to CoinShares digital asset analyst Matt Kimmell, that reduction mirrored previous downturns in Bitcoin, when leveraged and tactical investors typically trimmed positions as prices weakened.
However, the report also highlighted differing responses across institutional groups. While hedge funds and broker‐dealers reduced exposure markedly, banks increased their Bitcoin ETF holdings during the same period, indicating that not all professional investors reacted to volatility in the same way.
Regulatory alignment for future launches
CoinShares argues that its UCITS platform now gives it a regulated framework that fits comfortably within existing institutional mandates, rather than requiring investors to rewrite internal policies to gain digital asset exposure.
The company said it plans to introduce additional regulated funds over time, as demand from institutional investors for crypto‐linked and thematic products continues to evolve.
The launch comes as European regulation increasingly shapes how asset managers structure and distribute crypto‐related offerings to institutional clients, pushing more firms towards established regimes such as UCITS.
