Following approval, UK investors can once again hold cryptocurrency ETNs in a tax-free vehicle through Stratiphy, a fintech startup. Stratiphy offers both crypto ETNs and Innovative Finance ISAs, which allow users to save up to 20,000 pounds per year without paying income tax or capital gains tax on returns.
The U.K.'s tax authority, HMRC, had previously classified crypto ETNs as only available in IFISAs, making last year's decision to lift the ban on retail users accessing crypto ETNs redundant. Stratiphy will provide access to three ETNs from 21Shares, including those covering bitcoin, ether, and a combination of BTC and gold.
With 4 million pounds in assets under management for 2,000 clients, Stratiphy's CEO Daniel Gold notes a high level of interest in these products as a means to diversify portfolios with a new asset class that has low correlation to other asset classes.