Swiss Regulator Approves First Bitcoin ETF for Retail Investors
Bern, Switzerland – Switzerland’s financial market watchdog, FINMA, announced Tuesday it has approved the country’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will allow retail investors to directly invest in Bitcoin.
The fund, classified by FINMA as an “other fund for alternative investments” with specific risk considerations under Swiss law, will trade on an exchange similar to publicly listed stocks.
FINMA has granted an exemption from standard risk diversification rules for this particular fund. The regulator cited Bitcoin’s extensive trading history and significantly higher trading volume compared to other cryptocurrencies as justification for this waiver.
“As Bitcoin has a long trading history and a particularly high trading volume compared with other cryptocurrencies, FINMA has approved an exemption from the applicable risk diversification rules in this case,” the authority stated.
This move marks a significant step beyond FINMA’s previous approval in September 2021 of the Crypto Market Index Fund. That fund, however, was restricted to qualified investors and invested in a broader basket of crypto assets, not solely Bitcoin.
New guidance issued by FINMA on January 12, 2026, mandates that institutions it supervises must mitigate operational and custody risks. This includes addressing threats such as cyberattacks and inadequate protection of private keys, which are essential cryptographic credentials for accessing digital assets.
Under this guidance, a Swiss custodian bank is generally required to hold the Bitcoin assets of a Swiss fund. While safekeeping can be delegated to a third-party custodian, either domestically or internationally, that custodian must demonstrate equivalent oversight of its financial stability and provide comparable bankruptcy protection for crypto assets. This ensures that in the event of a custodian’s insolvency, the digital coins can be segregated from its estate.
Firms marketing the new Bitcoin ETF will be obligated to adhere to the conduct rules of Swiss financial services law at the point of sale. This entails providing clear warnings about the product’s volatility and the risk of capital loss, as well as verifying that the investment is suitable for the buyer. FINMA asserts that this process offers greater protection than purchasing cryptocurrencies directly.
While crypto exchange-traded products already have listing rules on Swiss exchanges and are treated as structured products under financial services law according to FINMA’s January guidance, this new approval signifies an investment fund operating under Swiss fund law.
In parallel, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which mirror Bitcoin’s price and trade like stocks, experienced net outflows of approximately $615 million from October through Friday. BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest among the 12 funds with $66.37 billion in net assets, saw inflows of $665.2 million on Monday, being the sole fund with net inflows that day. Total net inflows across all U.S. Bitcoin ETFs for that day reached $526.6 million, according to Decrypt’s ETF tracker.
FINMA’s announcement did not disclose the name of the Swiss fund or its issuer, nor did it provide a launch date. The regulator did indicate, however, that other providers have submitted or announced applications for Bitcoin ETFs.
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