India’s first Bitcoin ETF likely to come up in GIFT City

In October of last year, the United States got its first Bitcoin-based Futures ETF (Exchange Traded Fund). ProShares ETF listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) saw one of the biggest first days on record with over $1 billion in trading volume. 

Well, India could be the first country outside of the U.S. to replicate a similar success story. Thanks to Torus Kling Blockchain that is at the forefront of bringing Crypto-based Futures ETF to India at GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tech) city.

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A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between Torus Kling Blockchain IFSC and India INX to set up India’s first Bitcoin and Ethereum based futures ETF along with Metaverse US-listed Large-cap Discount Certificates.

Torus Kling Blockchain is a joint venture between Hyderabad-based startup Kling Trading India and Cosmea Financial Holdings promoted by ex-Reliance CEO Sam Ghosh. Meanwhile, India INX is India’s first international stock exchange and a subsidiary of BSE located at the International Financial Service Centre (IFSC), GIFT city in Gujarat. 

As per the understanding, India INX will be the trading platform, Kling Trading will act as the technology partner, and Cosmea will take care of the distribution. 

The crypto futures ETF will be launched by April under a Sandbox framework set up by the GIFT regulatory authority IFSCA. The sandbox environment will allow launching and live-test products under strict control to rectify any emerging risks or faults. Once the ETF gets approved by IFSCA, Indians will invest in it under RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) route. 

“India INX at GIFT IFSC is looking at exploring the launch of digital asset-based products and has already made an application to IFSCA under regulatory sandbox,” as noted by MD and CEO of India INX, Balasubramanium. 

Simultaneously, Torus Kling Blockchain is also looking at launching large-cap discount certificates of metaverse companies in the US. Discount certificates are debentures to acquire an underlying instrument at a discount to the current market price. 

Why are Crypto Futures ETFs a big deal? 

Crypto-based futures ETFs are popular with institutions and traditional investors who want to participate in bitcoin and ethereum investment without taking the risks of dealing with individual exchanges. The Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETF will track the returns from these crypto-assets without directly investing in them, expecting a significant inflow into the market. 

Torus Kling Blockchain aims to achieve $1 billion in value in two years of launch from investors interested in blockchain-based products through crypto futures ETFs and metaverse discount certificates.