Canada has taken its pro-crypto approach one step further and has approved two Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, namely Evolve Bitcoin ETF and Purpose Bitcoin ETF. The recent approval might as well make it more likely for such a fund to be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Ontario Securities Commission approved Purpose Bitcoin ETF last week, and the fund is planned to begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange next Thursday. One of the fastest-growing ETF providers in Canada, Evolve Funds Group Inc., also announced a couple of days ago that it had been approved to launch a Bitcoin ETF.
Evolve has $1.7 billion in assets under management and is expected to launch on the Toronto Stock Exchange, subject to TSX approval. In the announcement made by the company, Evolve mentioned that there would be two offerings, unhedged ETF units (EBIT) and USD unhedged units (EBIT.U). EBIT will thus be one of the first physically settled bitcoin ETFs in the world.
Raj Lala, President and CEO of Evolve ETFs, highlighted the importance of this approval for investors saying that this will enable them to “trade bitcoin on a regulated stock exchange” and that it “will be as simple as buying shares through their bank or brokerage.”
The CEO added that EBIT would provide “daily liquidity, transparency and security for directly purchasing bitcoin through a regulated ETF structure.”
Moreover, according to the company’s announcement, “EBIT will provide investors with exposure to the daily price movements of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin,” and “the ETF will not seek exposure through derivatives or futures contracts and will be backed directly by physically settled bitcoin holdings.”
Chief investment officer and chief operating officer of Evolve ETFs, Elliot Johnson, stated that “EBIT will directly own bitcoin on the bitcoin blockchain in a cold wallet,” mentioning that the company is working with top cryptocurrency experts, such as Gemini Trust Company, CIBC Mellon Global Services, CF Benchmarks, and Cidel Trust Company.