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Bitcoin Canada

Canadian Regulator Clears Launch of World's First Bitcoin ETF (reuters.com) 30

Posted by BeauHD from the first-of-its-kind dept.
Canada's main securities regulator has cleared the launch of the world's first bitcoin exchange traded fund, an investment manager said on Friday, providing investors greater access to the cryptocurrency that has sparked an explosion in trading interest. Reuters reports: The Ontario Securities Commission has approved the launch of Purpose Bitcoin ETF, Toronto-based asset management company Purpose Investments Inc. said in a statement. The OSC confirmed the approval in a separate statement to Reuters. "The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directly in physically settled Bitcoin, not derivatives, allowing investors easy and efficient access to the emerging asset class of cryptocurrency," Purpose Investments said.

Investors have been able to trade bitcoin using futures contracts on the CME derivatives exchange. They can also buy closed-end investment funds, such as the Bitcoin Fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange. [...] In the United States, eight firms have tried without success since 2013 to create a bitcoin ETF, according to Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research at New York based CFRA. Among issues the Securities and Exchange Commission appears to be focused on are the potential for market manipulation and the process of custody audits that verify that a fund holds its purported assets.
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Canadian Regulator Clears Launch of World's First Bitcoin ETF More

Canadian Regulator Clears Launch of World's First Bitcoin ETF

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  • I guess with Trump out of office gotta find something to fill in the space. At least this is somewhat tech related.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sebby ( 238625 )

      It's just the same old 1%-er scam, but this time around the 1% perpetrating it is a bunch of geeks, and it's just that the usual suspects (the 'regular' 1%-ers) are trying to get in on it... same old, same old.

      Remember sub-prime mortgages?

    • It riles up the elderly haters so much. I know new technology can be scary sometimes but take a sip of metamucil and calm down.

  • What's the point of an ETF for a single asset

    • Presumably it's just a wrapper around Bitcoin holdings so people can get exposure to it without having to deal with all the details involved with maintaining a wallet, making transactions, dealing with whatever local governmental oversight might be involved, etc.

      • That wrapper around it is useful if you're investing from a retirement account. Yes there are Bitcoin IRAs / SD-IRAs, etc. But having it in a form that you can buy from your traditional cheap custodian is a useful thing. Just beware that - if you don't own the private keys, you don't own the crypto.

    • What's the point of an ETF for a single asset

      Well, it’s bitcoin. It’s all in little bits. The ETF consolidates them into easily tradable shares, if you just bought bitcoin you’d keep losing pieces here and there.

    • Probably makes it more likely for people to be reported to the tax authorities by their brokers, so that they will pay taxes.

      • I mean, most brokers will report people to the tax authorities. And the ones that don't, well, fuck tax cheats.

        • The places that let you trade cryptocurrencies, I am not sure you can consider those "brokers". They don't trade stocks, and may not be registered with the SEC or other investing related agencies.

    • The point is that it's now Exchange Traded :)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gimric ( 110667 )

      It allows people to buy into Bitcoin without leaving it on exchange or risking losing access to their wallet,

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Valleye ( 858254 )
      Now that it is an ETF, you can hold it in a RRSP or TFSA and defer (RRSP) or avoid (TFSA) income taxes on its growth.

  • In the United States, eight firms have tried without success since 2013 to create a bitcoin ETF

    Canada: More progressive than the rest.

  • Since this is a tech site, not a shady finance site, and you did not explain that term, I'm gonna assume it means Evil Thrash Finances.

    Or maybe End Times, Finally!

  • ...are going to be wiped out by blockchain mining at this rate. It already consumes more electricity than Argentina & it's mostly from coal-powered generating stations in China. Is there anything that people are doing with blockchain that they couldn't do just as easily with a digitally signed database?
  • Feels like .com bubble all over again. I have been wrong about everything else in life, so I am probably wrong about this. I am rooting for junior silver miners, letâ(TM)s see how those perform against bits of coin.

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