Posted on November 9th, 2017 by Fitch
STOCKHOLM, NOVEMBER 9, 2017 - Further to its earlier Press Releases of July 28th, August 2nd and October 17th, XBT Provider AB (Publ) (the “Issuer”) wishes to provide a further update in connection with the bitcoin fork that resulted in Bitcoin Cash.
Before doing so however, the Board of the Issuer would like to reiterate the following from its Press Release of October 17th:
…investors in the Issuer's Certificates are not holders of bitcoin. As disclosed in the Issuer's Prospectus, its Certificates synthetically track the price of bitcoin (and not any alternative coin which results from a forking, split or any other event and which shares a common transaction history prior to the fork). A hedging arrangement exists between the Issuer and group companies of the guarantor of the Certificates, Global Advisors (Jersey) Limited (the "Guarantor"). Those group companies of the Guarantor hold bitcoin to support the Issuer's Certificates. However, notwithstanding that the Issuer and the Guarantor have no legal requirement to distribute any value created from a fork (including the BCH fork) (other than any enhanced performance of the coin which remains as 'bitcoin'), the Issuer wishes to pass such value created (or as much thereof as is practicable) through to the holders of its Certificates at the time of the fork.
As was also confirmed in the Press Release of 17th October, 2017, the Issuer has determined to implement a cash distribution plan in respect of the result of this fork. During the three-month ‘observation period’, the Issuer sold 44,471‘Bitcoin Cash’ coins, for a USD value of $14,587,291. These proceeds, less the costs of implementing and administering the distribution plan, will be available for remittance for the benefit of the holders of its bitcoin-referenced Certificates at the opening of trading on August 1st.
Individuals and / or nominees will be required to provide additional identification / 'know your customer' information in order to be able to receive a distribution.
The Issuer has been developing a portal through which eligible Certificate holders may apply for a distribution, which is currently anticipated to be available for use by Monday, 20 November, 2017. The Issuer will provide further details in connection with the use of this portal before this date.
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ABOUT THE ISSUER
XBT Provider AB (Publ), a CoinShares company, is the Swedish-domiciled issuer of Bitcoin Tracker One and Bitcoin Tracker Euro (COINXBT:SS, COINXBE:SS, respectively) and Ether Tracker One and Ether Tracker Euro (COINETH:SS and COINETHE:SS). These trackers are designed to mirror the return of the underlying asset, bitcoin (in Swedish Kronor and Euro, respectively). In 2015, Bitcoin Tracker One became the first bitcoin-referenced security available on a regulated exchange when it listed on NASDAQ in Stockholm. In 2017, Ether Tracker One became the first ether-referenced security available on a regulated exchange when it listed on NASDAQ in Stockholm. All four certificates are available in 179 countries and are traded in the same manner as any other share or instrument listed on the Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm. The Issuer's Prospectus is approved by the Swedish FSA (Finansinspektionen) and its products are listed on Nasdaq Nordic in Stockholm. XBT Provider AB (Publ) is not a licensed financial advisor. The views presented in this release are the opinions of the Board of XBT Provider AB (Publ) and no other party. Bitcoin and ether are volatile assets and their prices (and the price of securities that are referenced to them) can move quickly. Prospective investors in the Issuer's certificates should carefully consider the suitability of such an investment and, in connection with such a determination, should carefully read the Issuer's latest Prospectus (including, in particular, the risk warnings set out therein).
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