Bank of America starts clearing crypto ETPs for European-based hedge funds

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• As the interest for crypto exchange-traded products increases, Bank of America's (NYSE:BAC) prime brokerage unit starts the clearing and settlement of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products ((ETPs)) for hedge funds in Europe, CoinDesk reports, citing three people with knowledge on the matter.
• The hedge funds will use BofA's prime brokerage unit to indirectly invest in crypto through a variety of crypto ETPs approved by European regulators.
• Institutions like Goldman Sachs, ICAP, JPMorgan, and UBS had been purchasing the 21Shares Polkdot ETP for clients since at least February, CoinDesk said, citing Bloomberg data.
• In June, ETC Group launched the first Bitcoin ETP in the U.K. on the Aquis Exchange in London.
• There has been an increasing number of crypto ETPs being listed on the SIX exchange in Switzerland and the Deutsche Boerse's Xetra market in Germany, CoinDesk added.
• Last week, Bank of America gives some clients a green light on trading bitcoin futures.