 "Y-Combinator-backed Mudrex to offer Bitcoin Spot ETFs to Indian investors")
Y-Combinator-backed crypto investment platform Mudrex on Monday launched the US Bitcoin Spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) for Indian investors. With that, it has become the first Indian platform to do so.
The US-headquartered platform said investors could start investing with a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $250,000. Notably, Indians are allowed to purchase ETFs under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), and the Reserve Bank of India has set $250,000 as the upper limit per year.
"Seeing the increasing demand for Bitcoin spot ETFs and user requests on our platform in the past few months, we have decided to launch it for Indian investors," said Edul Patel, chief executive officer and co-founder at Mudrex.
In the first phase, Mudrex would list four spot ETFs – BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Vanguard.
Investors would be able to choose between systematic investment plans (SIP) or lump-sum investments. Investors can invest in spot Bitcoin ETFs through Mudrex's platform by completing their know-your-customer (KYC) process.
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It comes at a time when Bitcoin touched its all-time high of $71,677 on Monday, bringing its gains for 2024 so far to 70 per cent. Experts say this is mainly due to the enthusiasm around Bitcoin ETFs and the upcoming halving.
In the US, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10. These included ETFs by BlackRock, Vanguard, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, Fidelity, and Invesco.
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These instruments led to a massive interest in digital tokens. The crypto market has since then rallied. According to LSEG data, the flow of capital into the 10 largest US Bitcoin ETFs touched $2 billion as of March 8.
Moreover, Bitcoin halving, which will reduce the number of these tokens in the market by half, is scheduled to take place in April and is also driving the market.
Along with Bitcoin, the second-largest token, Ethereum, has also surged up to 75 per cent so far this year, primarily because reports suggest the US SEC may soon approve Ether ETFs too.