Global Advisors (Jersey) Limited (GAJL) annonced today ETF industry veteran, Laurent Kssis, as interim managing director of XBT Provider AB, issuer of the world’s only publicly listed bitcoin Exchange Traded Note (ETN).
Kssis joins XBT Provider as demand for bitcoin-based financial products, especially ETFs, is at all-time highs. Global Advisors see underserved demand in key markets globally and intends to capture it with a series of products slated for 2017 and 2018. Kssis will be integral in this pursuit.
Daniel Masters, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of GAJL said:
“The U.S. is not the only market where demand is high for a bitcoin ETF. At Global Advisors, we see this and are aggressively pursuing the listing of other professional-caliber, bitcoin investment products. Needless to say, having an experienced ETF industry veteran on our team will accelerate success and ensure we bring the most professional products to market. Despite the SEC’s recent decision regarding a U.S. based, bitcoin ETF — Global Advisors believes demand is strikingly evident for bitcoin-based, exchange traded products. As a result, we at Global Advisors could not be more excited for Laurent to join the team and accelerate growth at XBT provider as well as for our 2017 product roadmap.”
Kssis, a 15-year veteran of the ETF industry is known for work with leaders in the industry such as HVB/Indexchange, SocGen/Lyxor, and State Street Bank among others.
Global Advisors is increasingly pursuing the demand for traditional investment vehicles in the emerging digital asset space.
Notably, in late 2016, Global Advisors completed the acquisition of XBT Provider AB, a Swedish-domiciled issuer of the worlds’ only Exchange Traded Notes which track the price of bitcoin.
XBT Providers’ Bitcoin Tracker One (COINXBT:SS) and Bitcoin Tracker Euro (COINXBE:SS) marked the first publicly listed bitcoin products in the Global Advisors product family. In December 2016, Global Advisors added a third product, with the public listing of their then 2-year-old bitcoin investment fund, (GABI) on CISE.
Mr. Kssis stated:
“I am excited to join the team at XBT Provider and Global Advisors at this critical maturity moment in professional bitcoin. We are witnessing peak demand for exchange traded bitcoin products like those XBT Provider issues and I am invigorated by the opportunity to help shape the future of the industry.”
This is Kssis’ first foray into bitcoin trading vehicles, but not his first endeavor into the cryptocurrency space. Kssis most recently served as Non-Executive Chairman of Coinsilium Group (NEX:COIN) a private equity fund specialized in early-stage blockchain startups. Coinsilium became the first-ever listed company in a blockchain technology group after raising £2.7m for its IPO.