CoinShares becomes the first investment product focused on Ethereum to launch an exchange-traded note (ETN) for Ether, the cryptocurrency that powers the Ethereum (ETH/USD) blockchain, CoinDesk reported.
CoinShares is headed by former JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) trader Daniel Masters.
The ETN thus joins CoinShares's original Bitcoin (Bitcoin) ETN offering, launched in 2015, in bringing a well-used mechanism from traditional markets to the world of cryptocurrency.
A principal at CoinShares, Masters framed the company's interest in ETNs as stemming from its belief that people should have "hassle-free exposure" to the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Masters told CoinDesk: "Bitcoin disrupts the functions of analog money and analog gold, and Ether disrupts the function of the stock markets and the process of forming capital."
The Ether ETNs are still available on Nasdaq Stockholm only, but the mechanisms are being exclusively marketed to European investors.