According to Milano Finanza, 9 February is a date to be circled in red on the calendar. This is the day on which a new market segment dedicated to cryptocurrency-linked certificates will kick off on Euronext.
Here we must immediately make a distinction: this is not a direct opening for spot cryptocurrency trading. Neither Bitcoin nor Ethereum or similar will enter the traditional listings of the Milan Stock Exchange. Evolution will come by derivative route. The financial system wants to intercept a now structural demand, such as that of crypto-assets, but without crossing the boundaries drawn by the European regulation on these forms of investment.
This is only a first, small step, but it nevertheless represents a significant step within a process that will remain slow, cautious and far from linear. For some time now, European regulated finance has been trying to come to terms with the universe of digital assets, and now Milan too is aligning itself with this trend.
The opening of the segment dedicated to cryptocurrencies
The opening segment will host structured instruments that will allow exposure to the performance of the main cryptocurrencies. Specifically, these will be certificates, i.e. financial products that are permitted and fully legitimate within the current regulatory perimeter. The difference with the recent past will therefore be significant: cryptocurrencies will not remain excluded, but will begin to enter the mainstream of traditional finance and compete with other types of assets.
Investor demand for such products is growing and the financial industry is seeking solutions to meet it. Regulators, however, continue to move with extreme caution, especially in individual national contexts. It is in this light that the logic of opening up to cryptocurrencies only through certificates, a type of investment not exactly among the most popular and popular, but perfectly legal within the MiCAR regulation, should be placed.
The complex relationship between banks and crypto-assets
Banks and financial intermediaries active in continental Europe are aware that ignoring the cryptocurrency phenomenon would mean losing relevance, because they see every day how much demand and activity there is in the more mature foreign markets.
At the same time, they are equally well aware that going too far with the offer of services related to this area would lead to significant friction with the supervisory authorities on the old continent. This is why they create compromise instruments such as the one we are writing about, designed to replicate the performance of cryptocurrencies without actually requiring direct ownership.
Euronext's new segment fits into this logic. It pulls in crypto certificates, which do not represent an absolute novelty, as they are instruments that already existed and were tradable (Unicredit launched one linked to Bitcoin last summer), but concentrates them in a dedicated space, within one of Europe's main market infrastructures.
This represents a clear quantum leap. It is a way of affirming how exposure to cryptocurrencies can also exist within the confines of regulated finance, because the two are able to communicate with each other, as long as it is done through tools that the current system, and its still strict regulations, are able to understand, assess and, above all, control. The main need today remains this.
