Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority, FINMA, announced on October 20 that it had approved the country’s first exchange-traded retail fund investing directly in Bitcoin. The product, BIT Asset Management’s Bitcoin Fund ETF, ticker BBIT, is expected to begin trading on SIX Swiss Exchange in November 2026.
The approval opens a regulated retail-fund route to direct Bitcoin exposure in Switzerland, but under an alternative-investment framework carrying specific risk rather than as a conventional diversified retail fund.
FINMA approves BBIT as direct-Bitcoin retail fund
FINMA said the fund is Switzerland’s first exchange-traded retail fund to invest directly in Bitcoin. The regulator classified it as an “other fund for alternative investments” with specific risk under Swiss law.
BIT Asset Management confirmed the approval on October 22 and said BBIT was expected to start trading on SIX in November. Reporting on October 26 also identified BBIT as the first Swiss retail fund with direct Bitcoin exposure and retained that expected timetable.
Diversification exemption under alternative-fund rules
The authorization includes an exemption from applicable risk-diversification requirements. FINMA said it granted that relief in light of Bitcoin’s long trading history and comparatively high trading volume.
That exemption is central to the fund’s structure: direct Bitcoin exposure would otherwise sit uneasily with diversification rules applicable to retail investment products. FINMA’s classification instead places BBIT in the alternative-investment category, explicitly identifying the fund as one with specific risk.
Custody and investor safeguards remain conditions
FINMA said the approval came with safeguards covering custody and operational risks, investor suitability and risk disclosures. Those conditions frame retail access to the product alongside the diversification exemption.
The regulator did not present the approval as removing Bitcoin’s risks. Rather, its framework permits the direct-Bitcoin fund while requiring protections around how the asset is held, how operational risks are managed and how the product is presented to investors.
BBIT’s next announced milestone is the planned November start of trading on SIX Swiss Exchange.
