FINMA Approves Switzerland’s First Retail Fund to Invest Directly in Bitcoin
Key Facts
On October 20, 2026, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) approved the first exchange-traded fund for retail investors to invest directly in Bitcoin, opening the way for this type of investment within Switzerland’s fund framework. The authority said in its announcement that the product was the first of its kind in the country, but did not name the fund or its manager. Two days later, BIT Asset Management announced that FINMA had approved its Bitcoin Fund ETF, which trades under the ticker BBIT. The company said trading is expected to begin on the Swiss SIX exchange in November. The approval expands the products available to retail investors while subjecting them to a defined classification and oversight framework. FINMA stressed that approval does not eliminate the risks associated with Bitcoin.
FINMA classified the fund as an “other alternative investment fund” with specific risks under Swiss law. The authority granted an exemption from diversification rules, citing Bitcoin’s longer trading history and particularly high trading volume compared with other cryptocurrencies. The exemption allows the fund to focus on a single asset instead of following the usual diversification requirements, according to the regulatory rationale set out by the authority. The classification does not mean Bitcoin has become less volatile or that capital is protected from losses. FINMA stressed that investing in Bitcoin, “even through an approved exchange-traded fund,” remains high risk, and that the cryptocurrency’s volatility could lead to a substantial loss in the value of invested funds.
BIT Asset Management said BBIT will hold Bitcoin directly and that the fund’s assets will be segregated from those of the fund management company and held for investors’ benefit. This arrangement describes how assets are separated at the fund and company levels, but does not change the authority’s warning about the custody and operational risks associated with products holding crypto assets. FINMA issued guidance on January 12, 2026, on measures to reduce operational and custody risks at institutions under its supervision, and cited those measures in its approval announcement. The authority said specialized expertise and robust technical infrastructure are essential to reducing cryptocurrency custody risks. If custody takes place abroad, complex legal issues may arise, particularly if the custodian becomes insolvent, according to the guidance published by the authority.
The new fund differs from the first Swiss cryptocurrency fund approved by FINMA in 2021, as the Crypto Market Index Fund was restricted to qualified investors. The current approval concerns a retail exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin. Bitcoin products had already been traded in the Swiss market; SIX Group said in a 2021 announcement that one of its exchange-traded products was 100% physically backed by Bitcoin. The differences here lie in the legal structure and whether the product can be offered to retail investors, not in Bitcoin-linked trading being new to Switzerland. SIX data for 2020 also showed that trading in cryptocurrency-linked exchange-traded products and structured securities totaled 1.1 billion Swiss francs, with 48,024 transactions in products with underlying crypto assets.
FINMA said other financial institutions had submitted or announced applications for approval of exchange-traded Bitcoin funds, indicating that further applications are in progress without the authority specifying when it would decide on them. CoinDesk, meanwhile, cited a FINMA spokesperson as saying approval of BBIT does not automatically give the green light to funds holding other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum or Solana. SIX told the publication that banks and brokers abroad can access the fund, but offering it to their clients depends on local rules in each market. BIT Asset Management said approval for public distribution is limited to Switzerland. Trading is expected to begin on SIX in November, and the company said it would announce trading details ahead of launch; available evidence did not specify a particular start date.