Bitcoin

[bambam]

I have been following bitcoin for a couple of years but never invested.

I finally set up a Coinbase wallet last month but have not been brave enough to take the plunge yet.

I did some research on bitcoin trackers and found that HL now have a couple of funds: Bitcoin Tracker One (COINXBT SS) and Bitcoin Tracker Euro (COINXBE SS). These are Exchange Traded Notes (certificates) designed to mirror the return of the underlying asset, bitcoin, denominated in Swedish Kronor and Euro respectively. You can chose either the euro or kroner denominated certificate and it’s value changes by tracking the price of bitcoins but also the exchange rate between USD, the nominated currency certificate and the GBP.

I bought two certificates in mid November when their price was about £250 each. Today the certificates are valued at £648 each: about 150% up.

I sold one certificate when it was valued at £600 using the HL Vantage platform which made it very easy to get the funds. They were available to invest through HL the same day and were in my account as cash within a couple of days. You can’t hold the funds in your ISA for pretty obvious reasons but no problems holding them in the fund and share account. The remaining certificate value is therefore all surplus which makes it a stress free “punt” The bubble could burst or not: who knows? It is nice to have a small amount of “skin in the game” though.


ETN certificates are only as secure as the company which issue them but, with the imprimatur of HL, it feels like a less risky and technical way to join the party!

That's interesting. Could be a good way to get some exposure to the market in a different way. Definitely cuts down on the laborious nature of getting funds into coin exchanges.