CoinShares Launches First Litecoin ETP

London-based asset manager CoinShares has launched a new Litecoin exchange-traded product (ETP) physically backed on Switzerland’s SIX exchange. CoinShares Physical Litecoin (LITE) can be traded by institutional investors in US dollars, Euros, or Swiss francs. Each LITE share is backed by 0.20 Litecoin (LTC), providing direct exposure to the underlying asset with a 1.5% annual management fee.

Litecoin is currently the 8th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization (about $16.5 billion at the time of writing) and the 4th largest cryptocurrency by daily trading volume (about $7 billion at the time of writing). This is CoinShares’ third ETP and a successor to the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs launched earlier this year. All coins are managed by Komainu, a joint venture between CoinShares, Ledger and investment bank Nomura.

Frank Spiteri, Chief Revenue Officer at CoinShares, commented on the announcement:

“As demand for digital assets continues to grow within the traditional investment community, we are starting to see green demand for investment exposure outside of the top two dominant networks. CoinShares is a leader in creating new ways for investors to access the digital asset ecosystem, and LITE is the next step on the path to bringing more comprehensive and diverse ETP products to market.”

Townsend Lansing, Head of Product at CoinShares, added:

“LITE will be hot on the heels of Bitcoin and Ethereum product launches in 2021 and benefit from the same robust and transparent physically supported product architecture. We are excited to add this widely accepted and widely traded cryptocurrency asset to our new product line.”

The Swiss Six exchange is also notable for being the exchange that launched the first multi-cryptocurrency ETP under the ticker HODL5 (maintained by MVIS) in 2018, and also allowed exposure to Litecoin along with a basket of other top crypto assets.