Canadian investment fund manager 3iQ has launched its Bitcoin Fund, now trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The regulated cryptocurrency fund, first presented to the Ontario Securities Commission Panel last year, offers retail investors exposure to Bitcoin within their registered and traditional investment accounts.
The Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest in Canada, facilitating investors who are interested in adding Bitcoin (BTC) to their portfolios without having to buy the cryptocurrency directly. The Fund’s index feed tracks the price of BTC through a benchmark developed by VanEck’s MV Index Solutions, a regulated index provider, and market data provider CryptoCompare.
3iQ Corp. will act as the investment manager and portfolio manager of the Fund, which has 1,491,800 Class A units that began trading on Thursday under the symbol QBTC.U, representing total assets of approximately $14 million.
As for cryptocurrency exchanges that trade tokenized securities or crypto assets that are derivatives, Canadian regulators issued new guidance in January in a move to offer clarity to support fast-moving developments in the industry.
Louis Morisset, Chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators, remarked,
“The evolving landscape of the industry prompts us to clarify our regulatory framework so as to better support fintech businesses seeking to offer innovative products, services, and applications in Canada.”
Under the new guidelines several cryptocurrency exchanges servicing Canadian residents are mandated to comply with securities laws. However, these laws do not apply if a platform offers services for users to buy or sell Bitcoin and does not offer margin or leveraged trading.
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