Following approval, UK investors can once again take advantage of a tax-free savings option for cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) through fintech startup Stratiphy's individual savings account (ISA) offering. Stratiphy, a personalized investment platform, provides both crypto ETNs and Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs), as reported by the Financial Times.
ISAs allow users to save up to £20,000 annually without incurring income tax or capital gains tax on returns. Recently, the UK's tax authority, HMRC, reclassified crypto ETNs as IFISA-exclusive instruments starting from the current tax year, rendering last year's decision to lift the retail access ban redundant due to the lack of mainstream IFISA offerings.
Stratiphy will provide access to three 21Shares ETNs, including those for bitcoin, ether, and a bitcoin-gold combination. With £4 million in assets under management for 2,000 clients, Stratiphy's CEO, Daniel Gold, noted the significant interest in these products, highlighting their potential for portfolio diversification as a new, low-correlation asset class.