Crypto investment platform Bitpanda has added commodities to its platform, allowing users to trade oil, natural gas, aluminum and wheat along with cryptocurrencies, stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to an announcement today, users will be able to gain exposure to exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) via derivatives contracts. Bitpanda will hold the ETCs. Unlike its metal investment feature, users are not able to buy shares in the physical asset.

Bitpanda said the new products will allow users to bet on "short-term" price movements in commodities. With inflation surging around the world, the firm pointed out that commodities can protect investors' portfolios in such an environment.    

"I’m excited we’ve been able to add commodities to the platform at a time when inflation is biting into people’s savings," CEO and co-founder Eric Demuth said in a statement. "Bitpanda customers can now bet against their gas bill and benefit from the short-term price movements of key commodities like oil, natural gas, corn, wheat and many more." 

The product launch follows its previous moves to further expand its product line. In July, it launched four new thematic crypto indices based on the areas of decentralized finance, the metaverse, infrastructure and smart contracts. The Block also reported that the fintech firm launched an exchange-traded note (ETN) tracking the price of bitcoin last year. 

The company has also recently drastically downsized amid a downturn in the crypto market which has seen the price of bitcoin drop below $20,000. In June, the company cut staff numbers from about 1,000 to 730. The Block later reported that Bitpanda's chief product officer, Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, told staff there would be no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing a third of its workforce.