21Shares Debuts Innovative Bitcoin and Gold Investment Product on the London Stock Exchange

A new era for digital asset investing began in the United Kingdom this week. On Tuesday, January 13, 2026, the investment firm 21Shares officially launched its Bitcoin and Gold exchange-traded product on the London Stock Exchange. 

This product is known by its ticker symbol, BOLD. It represents a major milestone for the local financial market. For the first time, investors in London can access both Bitcoin and gold within a single, regulated investment vehicle.

The launch of BOLD in London follows a massive shift in how the UK handles digital assets. In October 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority made a landmark decision. The regulator decided to lift long-standing restrictions on Bitcoin-linked investment products. 

Previously, these products were mostly restricted to professional investors. Now, the doors have opened for a much wider range of market participants. This change has allowed 21Shares to bring one of its most unique products to the heart of the British financial system.

The BOLD ETP is designed to be a “hard money” solution. It combines the oldest form of wealth preservation with the newest. Gold prices has been a store of value for thousands of years. Bitcoin is often called “digital gold” because of its limited supply. 

By putting them together, 21Shares hopes to offer a balanced way to grow wealth while protecting against inflation. The product trades in two versions to suit different needs. Investors can use the ticker BOLD for trades in British pounds. They can also use BOLU for trades in U.S. dollars.

A Strategy Built on Balancing Risk

The most unique feature of the BOLD ETP is how it manages its money. It does not just buy an equal amount of Bitcoin and gold. Instead, it uses a complex strategy called “inverse volatility weighting.” This means the fund looks at how much the price of each asset moves. 

Bitcoin is known for having very large price swings. Gold is usually much more stable. Because of this, the fund puts more weight on gold. This helps to anchor the portfolio and keep it from being too risky.

The fund rebalances its holdings once every month. This process is entirely rules-based. It does not rely on a manager making guesses about the market. Every 30 days, the fund looks at the last 360 days of price data. It calculates which asset was more stable. 

The goal is to make sure the risk is spread evenly between the two assets. If Bitcoin has a very volatile month, the fund will reduce its exposure to it. If gold remains calm, its share of the portfolio will increase.

This rebalancing act does more than just manage risk. It also forces the fund to “buy low and sell high” automatically. When one asset performs very well, its price goes up. This makes it a larger part of the portfolio. During the monthly rebalance, the fund trims that winning asset. It then uses that money to buy more of the asset that performed less well. 

According to data from BOLDETF.com, this specific method has added extra returns. On average, this mechanical trading has generated an extra 5% to 7% in returns per year. This happens while keeping the overall experience much smoother for the investor.

Proven Results and Institutional Security

While BOLD is new to London, it is not a new product for 21Shares. The firm first launched this strategy in Switzerland back in April 2022. Since then, it has built a strong track record. From its start through the end of 2025, the BOLD strategy delivered a total return of 122.5% in British pounds. This figure includes all fees. 

To put that in perspective, Bitcoin alone returned 111.3% in that same timeframe. Gold alone returned 113.0%. By combining them and rebalancing, the strategy actually beat both individual assets.

The long-term data is even more striking for those looking at history. Since the peak of the Bitcoin market in late 2017, the BOLD Index has returned 450.3%. This is much higher than what an investor would have made holding just one of the two assets. It also beat a simple 50/50 split that many people use. 

The strategy is designed to adapt when markets get messy. For example, Bitcoin saw a sharp decline in February 2025. During the next rebalance, the fund automatically increased its Bitcoin holdings. This restored the portfolio to its target risk levels right as the market began to recover.

Safety is a top priority for institutional investors, and 21Shares has addressed this through physical backing. Every share of the BOLD ETP is backed by the actual assets. These are not paper contracts or derivatives. The gold is stored safely in vaults managed by JP Morgan. 

The Bitcoin is kept in “cold storage,” which means it is not connected to the internet. This protects it from hackers. The digital assets are held by Anchorage Digital Bank and Copper Technologies. The product has an annual management fee of 0.65%. This is a competitive rate for a product that handles complex monthly trading on behalf of the client.

The Changing Face of the UK Crypto Market

The arrival of BOLD on the London Stock Exchange comes at a very interesting time for the industry. Recent data from CoinShares shows that the market is currently in a state of flux. 

Last week, digital asset investment products saw $454 million in net outflows. This was a sharp change from the start of the year. In the first two days of 2026, investors put $1.5 billion into the market. However, a four-day losing streak saw $1.3 billion leave just as quickly.

Experts believe this sudden shift is due to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Many investors expected interest rates to be cut in March. New data suggests that inflation might stay high for longer than people thought. This has made some investors nervous about risky assets like crypto. 

However, products like BOLD are designed for exactly this kind of environment. By including gold, the ETP offers a cushion during times of economic uncertainty. It allows investors to keep a foot in the crypto door without taking on the full risk of a market crash.

The UK is quickly becoming a global hub for these types of products. After the FCA lifted the retail ban in late 2025, trading volumes exploded. In just one month, the London Stock Exchange saw over $280 million in crypto trading. 

The UK is now the third-largest market in Europe for these assets. Major firms like BlackRock, Bitwise, and WisdomTree have also joined the fray. They listed their own Bitcoin and Ethereum products on the LSE late last year.

Russell Barlow, the CEO of 21Shares, is optimistic about the future of the UK market. He believes that investors deserve more choices that are safe and regulated. “BOLD is an exciting new product that aims to offer investors a potential hedge against inflation, exposure to BTC’s growth potential, and the relative stability of gold,” Barlow said during the launch announcement. 

He also emphasized the importance of retail access. “Now that retail investors in the UK have access to crypto ETPs, 21shares is dedicated to delivering a wider selection of innovative regulated products.”

As the UK government works on new rules for stablecoins and trading, the market continues to mature. The BOLD ETP is now available on several major exchanges across Europe, including Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. 

Its arrival in London is the latest step in making digital assets a standard part of a modern investment portfolio. For many, it represents a way to balance the “new world” of finance with the “old world” of gold.