Introduction of New Cryptocurrency ETPs
21shares has introduced two new cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the European market, enabling investors to tap into the LIT token from Lighter and the VVV token from Venice via standard brokerage accounts. This announcement was made on October 20, with the 21shares Lighter ETP available on Deutsche Börse Xetra under the ticker symbol LIHT. Simultaneously, the Venice Token ETP, which trades as VENC, is listed on Switzerland’s SIX exchange. Both ETPs come with an annual management fee of 2.50% and are fully backed by the cryptocurrencies they represent.
Details of the ETPs
This new listing provides a gateway for investors to engage with two diverse cryptocurrency operations. Lighter specializes in decentralized perpetual futures trading, while Venice focuses on privacy-centric artificial intelligence services. The Lighter ETP tracks the performance of LIT, the native cryptocurrency of a decentralized exchange that facilitates futures trading not only in cryptocurrencies but also in equities, foreign exchange, and commodities. The Lighter platform incorporates zero-knowledge proofs, enhancing the verifiability of its order matching and liquidation processes, and utilizes its revenue to buy back LIT and perform token burns.
Trading and Custodianship
The launch of the Lighter ETP has been officially recognized by Deutsche Börse, marking October 20 as the company’s first trading day. The exchange maintains two different trading lines: LIHT for euro-denominated transactions and LIHU for those in U.S. dollars, both tied to the same ISIN (CH1615641755). The ETP is categorized as a crypto exchange-traded note (ETN), allowing investors to gain exposure to the LIT token’s value without needing to directly hold it in private wallets.
On the other hand, the Venice ETP offers investors exposure to the Venice Token, which supports an AI platform aimed at safeguarding user information privacy. Venice’s services include an API that developers can seamlessly integrate with OpenAI solutions.
“Lighter brings a fee-generating perpetual futures decentralized exchange to traditional investment accounts, while Venice introduces access to a rapidly growing privacy-focused AI sector,”
stated Jasmin Muelhaupt, head of financial product development at 21shares.
Market Participation and Token Management
As outlined on the Venice product page, Anchorage Digital Bank and BitGo are entrusted as custodians of the VVV tokens, with Flow Traders and Virtu Financial Ireland acting as authorized market participants. The Venice ETP began trading on October 19, with an initial offering of 65,000 securities priced at $20 each, reflecting a total asset value of approximately $1.3 million. Notably, the total annual issuance of VVV tokens has diminished significantly from 14 million at its January 2025 launch to 2 million by October 2026, showcasing a drastic cut in production of about 86%. Moreover, Venice strategically allocates part of its revenue from subscriptions and API credits towards token buybacks and burns, although it clarifies that owning VVV does not confer equity or governance rights.
Conclusion
These ETP launches come after 21shares’ debut of Zcash and ether.fi ETPs in Europe last September. Each product retains the same 2.50% annual fee structure and has their underlying tokens held by custodians. 21shares previously released similar products for other decentralized financial tokens, including a dYdX ETP that was introduced in September 2025. Investors across Europe can access 21shares’ offerings through established brokerage accounts. Notably, retail clients of ING Germany have had the opportunity to trade cryptocurrency ETPs since February, with 21shares as a listed partner. While these new ETPs provide exposure to asset price movements, shareholders do not have direct control over the underlying cryptocurrencies held in custody. It is also important to note that these securities are not being marketed to investors in the United States, as per the issuer’s regulatory disclosures.
