Europe’s Largest ETF Trading Firm Moves Into Crypto

Flow Traders NV, an Amsterdam-based speed trading firm that is considered Europe’s largest ETF trader, is reportedly making markets in the first exchange-traded notes (ETN) based on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

According to a recent Bloomberg report, while multiple high-speed trading firms are active in crypto, Flows Traders is the first firm to publicly disclose it’s buying and selling crypto notes listed on regulated stock exchanges.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Flow Traders Co-CEO Dennis Dijkstra detailed some of the reasoning behind the firm’s strong push into the crypto markets.

People underestimate crypto. It’s big, and it is to be regulated very soon. The market participants are much more professional than people think. Institutional investors are interested — we know they are because we get requests.

Dijkstra noted that Flow Traders is currently hedging its crypto notes trades with CME Group and Cboe Global Markets futures contracts, but it is unclear whether or not the firm is actively investing in the actual digital assets as a hedge.

Flow Traders traded $284 billion in ETFs globally in the first quarter of 2018, including $156 billion in Europe, making it the largest ETF trader in the region.