Key Highlights
- Hargreaves Lansdown has added nine Bitcoin and Ether ETNs to its platform.
- The products are available through its Advanced Investing service for eligible customers.
- Investors must complete an appropriateness assessment before trading and face a 24-hour cooling-off period.
Hargreaves Lansdown has started offering Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to eligible UK customers, adding crypto investment products to one of the country’s largest retail investment platforms.
According to a Financial Times report published September 3, Hargreaves has listed nine crypto ETNs issued by firms including BlackRock’s iShares, WisdomTree, 21Shares, Invesco, CoinShares and Bitwise. The products have annual fees ranging from zero to 0.35%.
The ETNs are being offered through Hargreaves’ Advanced Investing service. Customers must meet the platform’s eligibility requirements, complete an appropriateness assessment and observe a 24-hour cooling-off period before trading.
The move comes almost a year after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) restored retail access to crypto ETNs in October 2025.
Hargreaves adds crypto ETNs with extra checks
Hargreaves did not immediately add crypto ETNs when the FCA reopened the market.
The platform had previously taken a skeptical view of crypto assets. In October 2025, it told customers that “Bitcoin is not an asset class.”
Its current offering remains limited to investors who meet additional requirements.
Hargreaves classifies crypto ETNs as Restricted Mass Market Investments, and customers must demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience through its eligibility and appropriateness checks. The platform also requires a 24-hour cooling-off period before eligible customers can trade.
The requirements mean that the FCA’s decision to reopen retail access has not resulted in unrestricted availability across investment platforms.
Customers continue to ask about crypto ETNs
Hargreaves spent additional time reviewing the risks and operational requirements before introducing the products, according to the FT report.
Chief Product Officer Doug Abbott said the platform wanted customers to understand the products before trading them.
“We want clients to understand what they are investing in.”
Abbott also said Hargreaves had continued receiving enquiries about crypto ETNs, particularly from its more experienced investor base.
The comments point to continued interest among some customers, although they do not establish that crypto ETNs have become a mainstream holding across the platform.
FCA restored retail access in 2025
Hargreaves’ decision follows the FCA’s October 2025 move to allow UK retail investors to trade crypto ETNs again.
The FCA had previously restricted retail access to these products because of concerns about the risks associated with crypto assets.
The rule change reopened a regulated route for investors seeking exposure to assets such as Bitcoin and Ether without directly holding the underlying cryptocurrencies.
Investment platforms have since taken different approaches to offering the products, with Hargreaves joining the market later than several of its competitors.
Stratiphy earlier added crypto ETNs to an ISA
The wider UK market has also seen efforts to provide tax-efficient access to crypto ETNs.
In April 2026, Stratiphy became the first UK platform to offer crypto ETNs through an Innovative Finance ISA, initially listing products from 21Shares covering Bitcoin, Ether and a Bitcoin-gold strategy.
The development addressed one of the restrictions affecting crypto ETNs in the UK. Newly purchased crypto ETNs cannot generally be held in a standard Stocks and Shares ISA, leaving Innovative Finance ISAs as a more limited alternative.
Only a small number of platforms currently offer that type of account.
London crypto ETN trading has increased
Trading activity in London-listed crypto ETNs has increased since the FCA restored retail access.
21Shares estimated that London Stock Exchange-listed crypto ETNs had generated around $1.5 billion in trading volume since the rule change. The figure was roughly nine times the volume recorded during the previous 17 months, when retail investors were restricted from buying the products.
London is now Europe’s third-largest exchange for crypto ETN trading, although daily August volumes remained around one-sixth of those on Germany’s Xetra exchange, according to the FT.
Retail demand remains limited
The increase in trading activity has not resulted in broad retail adoption.
Interactive Investor has previously described crypto ETN uptake among its customers as “relatively modest.”
Several factors can affect demand, including crypto price volatility, product fees, tax treatment and the additional eligibility requirements imposed on investors.
The data therefore points to a market that has become more accessible since the FCA’s policy change, but where retail participation remains uneven.
Bitcoin’s price has shifted since the FCA rule change
The market environment is also different from when the FCA restored retail access.
Bitcoin traded at around $126,000 in October 2025, when the FCA’s restrictions were lifted, before falling to roughly $58,000 in June 2026.
It later recovered toward $77,000 around the time Hargreaves entered the market. The recent move in Bitcoin’s price provides context for renewed trading activity but does not establish why Hargreaves chose to launch its ETN offering at this point.
Hargreaves enters the UK crypto ETN market
Hargreaves’ decision gives eligible customers another route to gain exposure to Bitcoin and Ether through exchange-listed investment products.
The launch also shows that access to crypto ETNs remains subject to platform-level eligibility checks even after the FCA reopened the retail market.
For now, UK crypto ETN activity is showing higher trading volumes, while retail adoption remains relatively limited.
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