Canada Gets A Publicly-Traded Bitcoin (BTC) Fund

An October 30 press release is in the Bitcoin news updates, showing that the Canadian investment fund manager 3iQ will now be able to offer the investors in the country a regulated and publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) fund. The news that Canada gets a Bitcoin fund were confirmed by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) which said that such fund is expected to be available on a major Canadian stock exchange by the end of the year.

In February this year, the markets regulator in Canada ruled negatively on the 3iQ proposal where the company pitched its plans about launching a regulated Bitcoin fund. However, the Toronto-based company (3iQ) appealed the decision and won approval from the OCS to launch its BTC fund.

“Over the past three years, we have worked actively with the OSC’s Investment Funds and Structured Products Branch to create an investment fund that we hope will allow retail investors the benefits of investing in Bitcoin through a regulated, listed fund,” the chief executive Fred Pye said.

Now that Canada gets a Bitcoin (BTC) fund, there are a lot of people who are confident about the crypto ecosystem in the country. Pye, for instance, previously worked as a senior VP at Fidelity Investments Canada. He told the Financial post that retail investors will be able to buy and sell the Bitcoin fund through traditional and discount brokers – and also be eligible for Canadian registered retirement savings plans and tax-free savings accounts.

The news on crypto regulation were well accepted as Canada gets its official Bitcoin fund. What’s also impressive is the fact that the New York-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini (founded in 2014 by the Winklevoss twins) will act as a custodian of the fund’s Bitcoins.

In the other news, Canada is reportedly exploring possible opportunities and challenges related to launching its own cryptocurrency. As Canada gets open BTC trading, analysts believe that the bank’s stance is geared towards cryptocurrency. Some reports showed that a public central bank digital currency could be the answer to the direct threat that cryptocurrencies now present.

As Canada gets its first fund, 3iQ is definitely geared to become a leader in the space. The leading digital asset portfolio manager has been given the green light to file a prospectus and apply to list its Bitcoin fund on an official Canadian stock exchange.