BNP Paribas will list six new cryptocurrency exchange‑traded notes (ETNs) tied to Bitcoin and Ethereum on its French exchange platform beginning March 30, the bank announced. The products give investors exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies without requiring direct ownership of the coins.
ETNs are tradable debt instruments that track an underlying index. They provide liquid, diversified exposure to an asset’s performance but do not convey ownership of the actual tokens; investors remain exposed to market losses and the issuer’s credit risk.
Issued under MiFID II rules and arranged with vetted asset managers, the ETNs are being offered to BNP Paribas’ retail and private banking clients, opening a way for millions of customers to access crypto price movements indirectly. The initial rollout will cover various client segments in France, with a phased international expansion planned thereafter.
BNP Paribas has been an early corporate adopter of blockchain and crypto-related experimentation. The group has run pilots in trade finance and securities settlement, forged partnerships with fintech and blockchain firms, and expressed interest in developing digital-asset services for institutional clients. It also participates in industry research on how distributed ledger technologies could reshape financial markets.
The bank is a member of Qivalis, a consortium of large European banks working on a euro‑pegged stablecoin for institutional and crypto use, which the group says is targeting a late‑2026 launch under MiCA regulatory standards.
Separately, BNP Paribas recently piloted tokenizing a share class of a money market fund on public Ethereum infrastructure. That intra‑group experiment used a permissioned model restricting participation to eligible parties while aiming to stay compliant with regulators, and sought to test operational workflows and whether tokenization can improve fund issuance and distribution.
Retail investment in France has grown: about 2.5 million French retail investors traded stocks in 2025, with roughly 1.6 million new participants added over the prior three years. If even a small portion of the roughly €2 trillion in liquid household savings shifts into these ETNs, the move could have a noticeable impact on Bitcoin and Ethereum order books.
This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For information on our content review process, see our editorial policy.