Swiss Regulator Approves Country’s First Retail Bitcoin ETF

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority has approved what it calls the country’s first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin and is open to retail investors. In its Tuesday announcement, the regulator pointed to growing interest in cryptocurrency investments, especially Bitcoin. It did not name the issuer but said several providers have submitted or announced Bitcoin ETF applications. No launch date was given.

Why FINMA Granted an Exemption

The regulator said it relaxed standard risk diversification requirements because Bitcoin has a long trading history and particularly high trading volume compared with other digital assets. Back in 2021, FINMA first authorized a fund for qualified investors holding mainly a basket of cryptocurrencies. It still warned that Bitcoin carries market risks, including the chance of losing a significant part of the invested capital because of high volatility.

iShares Product on SIX Swiss Exchange

In August 2025, SIX Swiss Exchange announced that iShares would begin trading a Bitcoin exchange-traded product fully backed by BTC held in cold storage by Coinbase Custody International Limited. The approval clears a major regulatory hurdle for Switzerland’s first retail-accessible ETF of this kind.

Switzerland is widely seen as one of Europe’s most crypto-friendly countries. In 2023, the city of Lugano began accepting Bitcoin and Tether USDt payments for all municipal fees, among the first city administrations in the world to do so.