The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) approved the country’s first exchange-traded retail fund holding Bitcoin (BTC) directly, a product expected to give local investors direct exposure once trading begins.
FINMA announced the approval on Oct. 20 and classified the fund under Swiss law as an “other fund for alternative investments” with a specific risk. It exempted the fund from risk-diversification rules, citing Bitcoin’s long trading history and high trading volume compared with other cryptocurrencies. FINMA also said other fund providers had submitted or announced applications for Bitcoin ETFs.
BIT Asset Management AG identified the approved product as the Bitcoin Fund ETF, ticker BBIT. The company expects trading on SIX Swiss Exchange to begin in November 2026, but its announcement gave no exact date. BIT says BBIT will hold Bitcoin directly and keep fund assets separate from those of the management company. It describes the product as Europe’s only spot Bitcoin ETF; FINMA’s announcement makes no Europe-wide comparison.
BIT says the fund may temporarily borrow up to 25% of its net asset value during a liquidity shortage. The manager says that could raise total risk exposure to a maximum of 125% of net asset value.
FINMA warned that Bitcoin’s volatility could cause investors to lose a significant amount of the capital they put into the fund. The regulator said, “the market risk associated with Bitcoin remains very high.” It also said supervised firms must address operational and custody risks, follow Financial Services Act conduct rules when selling the fund, and explain risks clearly in fund documents.
A crypto fund FINMA authorized in 2021 was restricted to qualified investors and invested mainly in a basket of cryptoassets. FINMA says the new approval is its first for an exchange-traded retail fund investing directly in Bitcoin. The next stated milestone is BBIT’s expected November 2026 listing on SIX Swiss Exchange.
