After three years of arduous legal negotiations, Canadian asset manager 3iQ has launched the first public Bitcoin (BTC) fund listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
‘The Bitcoin Fund’ listed almost 1.5m Class A ‘QBTC.U’ shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) on 9 April, with shares trading at around CAD$11 each. Seeing over $97 billion trade per month, the TSX is Canada’s largest stock exchange.
3iQ originally filed the prospectus for The Bitcoin Fund way back in 2017, but it took three years of negotiations with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) before getting the green light.
New York-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, owned by the Winklevoss twins, is acting as custodian for the Bitcoin Fund, and Tyler took to Twitter to enthusiastically welcome its launch.
CryptoCompare and MV Index Solutions, a subsidiary of VanEck Europe, are providing price indexes for the fund, while 3iQ is acting as its investment and portfolio manager.
Though most attention has focused on the Class A shares, which enable mainstream investors to harness Bitcoin (BTC) easily, with security and custody taken care of, the fund also offers Class F shares for institutional investors.
In February, Toronto-based Canada Stablecorp, a join venture between 3iQ and Mavennet, launched QCAD – the first mass market regulated stablecoin pegged to the Canadian dollar (CAD).
AYO.NEWS says:
Though no one can deny this year has been ‘difficult’ for cryptocurrencies, and a COVID-19 induced global economic crash is beginning, its good to see crypto infrastructure is still developing nicely behind the scenes. Whatever rises out of the ashes of the old system in the wake of this crisis, crypto is going to play a big part.
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