Driven by the demand in Saudi Arabia, crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) issuer 21Shares has secured Shariah approvals for two of its ETPs.
“Amid sustained interest from Saudi investors, the recent Shariah compliance of the BOLD ETP is significant in that the product is at the forefront to become Saudi Arabia’s first hybrid product,” the Switzerland based firm said in a statement. BOLD has a 25:75 Bitcoin to gold ratio, offering investors exposure to both gold and Bitcoin.
The other Shariah compliant product is its 21Shares Bitcoin ETP.
It is not immediately clear which scholar signed off on the ETPs. IFN Fintech has reached out to 21Shares for clarification.
21Shares, founded by CEO Hany Rashwan and President Ophelia Snyder, listed the first physically backed crypto ETP in 2018. Since then, it has launched 27 other crypto ETPs on 12 exchanges. With offices in Zurich and New York, the firm manages US$1.3 billion in assets as at the 25th October 2023. Its products are built on its proprietary operating system, Onyx, which is also distributed to third parties.
“Saudi Arabia presents exciting new market expansion opportunities for us,” commented Hany, who said the firm looks forward to partnering with local financial institutions.
Islamic crypto-based products are gaining popularity: Islamic Coin last month signed an MoU with CoinDesk Indices to explore developing Shariah compliant crypto benchmarks for the MENA region, while in August, Malaysia’s Halogen Capital launched a Shariah compliant bitcoin fund, said to be the world’s first.