Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK's largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, began offering nine Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded notes (ETNs) on Sept. 3, providing millions of retail investors with regulated exposure to the leading digital assets.
The platform controls 33.6 percent of the UK direct-to-consumer market by assets under administration, more than double Interactive Investor's 17.0 percent share, according to the Boring Money Market Monitor Q3 2025 report. Hargreaves Lansdown also operates the country's most-used self-invested personal pension.
The move marks a reversal for Hargreaves Lansdown, which previously warned clients against crypto investments. The Financial Conduct Authority formally allowed retail access to certain crypto ETNs listed on recognized UK exchanges in June 2025, effective Oct. 8, 2025. The retail ban on crypto ETNs had been in place since 2021.
Crypto ETNs track the price of Bitcoin or Ethereum without requiring investors to directly own the underlying coins or manage wallets and private keys. A bank or financial firm issues the notes and holds the cryptocurrencies in custody. Following the FCA's decision, firms including 21Shares, Bitwise, WisdomTree and BlackRock listed Bitcoin and Ether ETNs on the London Stock Exchange.
Hargreaves Lansdown charges a 0.35 percent annual account fee to hold crypto ETNs in a Fund and Share Account or a self-invested personal pension, capped at £12.50 per month. Dealing charges for trades range from £3.95 to £6.95.
The products reside within the firm's Advanced Investing hub, where Hargreaves Lansdown warns buyers to prepare for potential total loss of investment. If the note's issuer goes bankrupt, investor funds can disappear. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme does not cover crypto ETNs, and these products carry the full volatility of the assets they track. Hargreaves Lansdown advises such holdings should constitute only a small portion of an already diversified portfolio.
Tax treatment presents a key issue for UK savers. HM Revenue Customs initially confirmed that from Oct. 8, 2025, crypto ETNs would qualify within Stocks and Shares ISAs, the account most UK savers use. However, from April 6, 2026, HMRC reclassified the products as qualifying investments only within the Innovative Finance ISA. Investors who held the notes in a Stocks and Shares ISA before this date did not have to sell them.
Trade body CryptoUK argues the reclassification undermines the FCA's efforts to broaden access. Approximately 15 million Britons subscribed to an ISA in the 2023–24 tax year, while the Innovative Finance ISA is used by well under 1 percent of all ISA holders.
