Hargreaves Lansdown (HL), the UK's largest investment platform, began offering Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to its approximately 2 million clients on September 3, 2026. With the launch, HL becomes the last major UK retail investment platform to open access to crypto ETNs, following the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) decision to lift its retail ban in October 2025.

Nine ETNs Now Live on Advanced Investing

Nine crypto ETNs are now live on HL's Advanced Investing service, issued by major asset managers including BlackRock's iShares, WisdomTree, 21Shares, Invesco, CoinShares and Bitwise. Annual fees range from 0% to 0.35%, according to the Financial Times.

ETNs are exchange-traded debt securities designed to track an underlying asset or index. Unlike directly holding Bitcoin or Ethereum, investors in an ETN have exposure to the issuer's obligation to deliver the product's promised return, and therefore face issuer credit risk.

HL requires first-time investors to complete an appropriateness assessment and imposes a 24-hour cooling-off period. Chief Product Officer Doug Abbott said the measures are intended to ensure customers understand the risks associated with volatile crypto investments.

A Four-Year Ban and a Late Arrival

HL had remained an outlier among major UK platforms, most of which launched their crypto-related ETNs earlier this year. The FCA lifted its roughly four-year-nine-month retail ban on crypto ETNs on October 8, 2025, a shift that competitors including Interactive Investor and AJ Bell acted on within months. In April 2026, Stratiphy became the first UK platform to offer crypto ETNs through an Innovative Finance ISA.

Since the FCA's reversal, London Stock Exchange-listed crypto ETN volume has reached roughly $1.5 billion — about nine times the turnover recorded during the prior 17 months, when access was restricted to institutional investors. BTC-linked ETNs account for the bulk of that volume, roughly 80-85%, with ETH-linked products making up the remainder. That trading pattern helps explain why the newest retail listings have centered on Bitcoin and Ether, the two assets with the deepest market demand among the ETNs now available.

HL's entry also matters because it brings the products onto a platform with a large mainstream client base and an established suitability process. For customers, the shift means access to regulated crypto exposure within a familiar investment account structure, while still keeping the product set limited to ETNs rather than direct crypto ownership.

Why This Matters

Hargreaves Lansdown was the last major UK investment platform to join the retail crypto ETN market, bringing regulated Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure to roughly 2 million clients. The move shows how regulatory changes are pushing crypto investment products deeper into Britain's mainstream financial infrastructure.