Bitwise to launch the world’s first Aptos token-based exchange product in staking

What’s new? Asset management company Bitwise will launch an exchange-traded product (ETP) in Switzerland based on the staked native token of the Aptos (APT) blockchain. The Bitwise Aptos Staking ETP product will begin trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange on November 19 under the ticker APTB. The press release notes that the product will be the world’s first Aptos Staking ETP for APT.

Press release

What else is known? APTB is available to both institutional and retail investors. Fund managers will purchase APT tokens for the invested funds and place them in staking, which will provide a 4,7% return net of fees.

Aptos Staking ETP has become the tenth Bitwise product launched as part of its strategy to expand its business in the European market.

For instance, in August, Bitwise bought London-based crypto exchange-traded products issuer ETC Group with over $1 billion in assets under management (AUM). The company offers bitcoin-based products (ticker BTCE), Ethereum staked (ET32), Solana (ESOL), XRP from Ripple (GXRP), and a fund with a basket of multiple cryptocurrencies, the MSCI Digital Assets Select 20 (DA20).

Under Bitwise’s plan for all of these ETPs, they will be rebranded in the coming months.

The acquisition of ETC Group brings Bitwise’s AUM to over $4,5 billion. The company is also one of the issuers of bitcoin and Ethereum-based spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, which were approved by the SEC securities regulator on January 11 and July 23, 2024, respectively.

Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) has become one of the 25 fastest-growing ETPs of all time, among 12 US bitcoin funds it ranks fifth in AUM and fourth in fund inflows with $3,72 billion and $2,39 billion.

Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) has amassed more than $300 million in assets in its first few weeks. It now ranks fifth in that metric and fourth in terms of fund inflows among the nine products available in the US. BITB and ETHW shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

“We’re thrilled to now be able to launch the Bitwise Aptos Staking ETP to expand access to one of the most exciting next generation blockchains in the space,” said Bitwise CEO and co-founder Hunter Horsley.

Bitwise’s head of Europe, Bradley Duke, noted that there is a growing demand for digital assets among investors in Europe, and the company’s new product will allow them to access the promising APT token through a regulated platform.

Aptos Labs CEO and co-founder Mo Shaikh added that the launch of APTB validates the robustness, scalability, and speed of the Aptos blockchain and will strengthen its institutional adoption in the future.

The press release also notes that following the launch on the Swiss Exchange, APTB will be placed on other leading European trading platforms as well.

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Aptos was launched in 2020 by Aptos Labs, whose team includes former Meta employees who worked on Facebook’s never-released Diem cryptocurrency. The company has raised investment from leading venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Apollo Global Management, PayPal Ventures, and Franklin Templeton Investments.

Aptos is a Layer 1 (L1) blockchain with a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, it is written in the Move programming language and utilizes Block-STM technology to efficiently process smart contracts, as well as parallel transaction processing to increase throughput.

With its high throughput and scalability, Aptos enables the creation of applications designed for large audiences, and the ease of app creation opens up access to developers with any level of experience.

According to blockchain analytics platform Dune, the network processed 123,9 million transactions in the last 30 days, and the number of active addresses totaled 8., million over the same period.

The APT native token is used to pay fees, participate in ecosystem development votes, and staking. It is listed on major crypto exchanges and at the time of writing is ranked 23rd in the overall cryptocurrency ranking and eighth on the list of PoS-algorithm tokens with a capitalization of $6,3 billion.

APT is trading at $12,05, having added 5,9% overnight. Weekly growth amounted to 45,5%, and since the beginning of the year, the asset has risen in price by 29%.