Biggest UK Investment Platform Lists Bitcoin For 2 Million Users

Hargreaves Lansdown now sells Bitcoin (BTC) to about 2 million clients. However, it arrives five months too late, given that the tax break its savers wanted was closed in April.

Buy Bitcoin through a rival last winter, and the profit is tax-free for life. Buy the same thing at HL today and the taxman takes a cut.

Hargreaves Lansdown's Bitcoin is for £100,000 Earners

According to a report in the Financial Times, nine products went live, delivering notes that track the Bitcoin price, and run by firms like BlackRock, Invesco, and CoinShares. Fees range from 0% to 0.35% per year.

HL was the last big British platform to say yes, waiting 330 days after the rules changed. However, on closer inspection, you notice that it only changed its shelf, not its mind, since they still label these products as high risk.

Most clients cannot buy them anyway, as HL requires £100,000 in yearly income or £250,000 in savings. Buyers also sit a short test and wait a day.

There is a catch in the product too. You never own any Bitcoin. Instead, you own a promise from the firm behind the note.

That makes 2 million the client list, not the buyer list, and anyone who qualifies must use a taxed account, or a pension they cannot touch until 55.