TL;DR
- Societe Generale partners with 21Shares to provide liquidity and market-making services for 21Shares’ Bitcoin and Ether ETPs in Germany and Eastern Europe.
- The partnership aims to improve liquidity and institutional access to regulated crypto investment vehicles, leveraging the bank’s scale to enhance execution quality.
- This move is part of Societe Generale’s broader blockchain strategy, including stablecoin development, positioning it ahead of Europe’s upcoming MiCA crypto regulations.
European banking giant Societe Generale is charging further into the digital asset space, partnering with leading crypto asset manager 21Shares to bolster its ETP offerings across key European markets. This move significantly expands the traditional bank’s footprint in the burgeoning cryptocurrency sector.
Liquidity Boost for Bitcoin and Ether ETPs
Announced on Wednesday, the partnership designates Societe Generale as the provider of liquidity and market-making services for 21Shares’ suite of cryptocurrency ETPs targeting investors in Germany and Eastern Europe. Specifically, the bank will deliver over-the-counter (OTC) liquidity to support the trading of 21Shares’ core Bitcoin (tickers: ABTC, CBTC) and Ether (tickers: AETH, CETH) ETPs.
This backing from the world’s 19th-largest bank by assets (holding over $1.7 trillion) is expected to enhance execution quality, improve liquidity, and simplify institutional access to these regulated crypto investment vehicles.
Advancing Institutional Crypto Access
Executives from both firms hailed the collaboration as a major step forward for institutional cryptocurrency adoption. Alistair Byas-Perry, who is the Global Head of Capital Markets and EMEA Investment at 21Shares, shared his excitement: “We are thrilled to partner with Societe Generale, a major player in the European ETF space, as we continue to expand access to our ETPs.”
He stressed that the bank’s participation directly aids 21Shares’ goal to provide “the most efficient and trusted crypto investment solutions.” Martina Schroettle, who leads ETF Sales Trading (UK) at Societe Generale, agreed with this, describing the deal“a significant milestone in our commitment to providing innovative liquidity solutions and enhancing access to a wide range of ETFs and ETPs for our clients.”
Part of Broader Blockchain Strategy
This partnership is not an isolated move but rather a continuation of Societe Generale’s strategic push into blockchain and digital assets. The bank has been actively investigating this area via its specialized blockchain branch, Societe Generale-FORGE.
In September 2024, FORGE teamed up with the crypto platform Bitpanda to promote the use of its euro-based stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible (EURCV). These initiatives demonstrate a calculated expansion beyond traditional finance.
Societe Generale’s deepening involvement in crypto, including the 21Shares liquidity partnership and EURCV development, strategically positions the bank as Europe’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework becomes fully operational.
