An ETN (Exchange Traded Note) just bypassed the SEC approval process for ETFs! Americans can now buy spot bitcoin with their brokerage account.
> Here is an ELI5 version of the below article.
If you want to buy Bitcoin without actually buying Bitcoin, you now have another way to own it. Unlike exchange-traded funds, ETNs are debt instruments that are backed by their issuers -- often a bank -- rather than a pool of assets.
An ETN doesn't buy and sell assets within the funds like an ETF. The issuing company (XBT Provider AB, a subsidiary of U.K.-based CoinShares Holdings) holds the underlying asset. In one way XBT Provider can be seen as a wallet service. For e.g. Whenever somebody buys for $100 fiat, the company buys Bitcoin and put them into storage (primarily, a cold storage). You cannot transact with your Bitcoins, but they are kept in storage as long as you do not sell your ETN-certificates.
The risk is always there when using middlemen that the company could get hacked or the coins stolen by employees.
The benefit is a super easy way to buy into Bitcoin with fiat, from your normal financial account and without extra registration or approvals. IMHO a ETN is very similar to an ETF when it comes to user friendliness.
Credit:
https://t.me/cointifiedhttps://t.me/whatsoncryptohttps://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/companies/lovelorn-us-bitcoin-etf-fans-may-find-satisfaction-in-sweden/ar-BBLY95t