Canada’s Bitcoin ETF Traded $80 Million Worth Of Shares In One Hour

Canada’s Bitcoin ETF which is the first North American ETF, launched and made shares available on the Toronto Stock Exchange and so far, it traded $80 million worth of shares in the first hour so let’s read more in today’s BTC news.

North America’s first-ever BTC ETF launched today and traded $165 million worth of shares in the first day including the $80 million in the first hour as per the Bloomberg data. The Purpose Bitcoin ETF was approved in Canada at the start of the month and runs on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The physical BTC that the ETF trades is stored on Gemini’s exchange. As per the Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, it was “an epic full first day” for Purpose. These funds allow investors to buy and sell shares continually over the day and the Bitcoin ETF allows investors to purchase shares that represent the digital asset without having to own the crypto themselves.

Wow, the Canada Bitcoin ETF $BTCC already traded $64m worth of shares. That would be an epic full first day for a US ETF let alone in the first hour of trading. Also, the spread is a penny wide. Good start. pic.twitter.com/8A2mSRCsEV

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 18, 2021

The world’s first BTC ETF got approval in Bermuda in 2020 while Purpose’s Bitcoin ETF allows for “easy and efficient access” to BTC without having to risk the self-custody in a digital wallet as per Purpose, as the CEO Som Seif said:

 “We believe Bitcoin, as the first and largest asset in the emerging cryptocurrency ecosystem, is poised to continue its growth trajectory and adoption as an alternative asset, further cementing the investment opportunity it presents.”

Purpose’s ETF is the first such ETF in North America and back in the US, the regulators still haven’t approved one. The US SEC rejected all applications so far from companies that want to launch it including companies like Wilshire Phoenix and Bitwise. The SEC claims that the real BTC market doesn’t exist in the US and that the currency’s price is prone to manipulation by the holdings. Canada had luck however because Purposes’ Bitcoin ETF got the green light and a second one also got it this month by Evolve Funds Group but it’s still not up and running.

Maybe a BTC ETF in the US will come to a step closer thanks to these two already approved. However, analyst Charles Bovaird said:

 “Since a Bitcoin ETF has launched in Canada, this development might ‘steal the thunder’ surrounding the launch of any such fund in the US. More specifically, the existence of this Canadian ETF could make the approval of any US ETF less of a milestone, since it would not be the first fund of this kind to be approved by regulators.”