Ontario Securities Regulator Approves First Bitcoin ETF

Ontario Securities Regulator Approves First Bitcoin ETF

article-image
share
  • The ETF is conditionally approved to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) for residents of Canada
  • Numerous attempts to list a bitcoin ETF in the United States have been rejected by regulators

The first publicly traded bitcoin exchange-traded fund will soon be on the market in the great white north after Ontario’s securities regulator gave it the green light late Thursday. 

According to a decision document posted by the regulator, Toronto-based Purpose investments is authorized to list its bitcoin ETF and market it to Canadian residents in all of the country’s provinces and territories. According to its prospectus, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF “invests in and holds substantially all of its assets in long-term holdings of the digital currency bitcoin.” The annual management fee is set at 1%. 

Filings show that Cidel Trust Company is the fund’s custodian, while the Winklevoss’ Gemini is the sub-custodian. Ernst & Young is the fund’s auditor.

The prospectus discloses that the investment is considered high risk due to its volatility and is not appropriate for those looking for a “steady source of income”.

It’s not yet known when the ETF will list on markets in Canada, but the prospectus discloses the “TSX ticker symbol for the ETF units, CAD ETF Non-Currency Hedged Units and USD ETF Non-Currency Hedged Units is BTCC, BTCC.B and BTCC.U, respectively.”

According to SEDAR, the Canadian version of EDGAR, more applications for ETFs are in the pipeline.

Investment firm Accelerate Financial has applied to list the Accelerate Bitcoin ETF in Toronto under the ticker “ABTC” with a management fee of 0.7%. 

“If you look at any time frame, three, five, or 10 years,  bitcoin blows every asset class out of the water on an absolute return and risk-adjusted return basis even though it is  a highly volatile asset,” Julian Klymochko, CEO of Accelerate has been quoted as saying. 

Earlier in the month Arxnovum Investments, run by a former 3iQ executive, filed an application to list a bitcoin ETF in Toronto.

Back in the U.S. well-known ETF issuers VanEck and Valkyrie both put in new applications in December for bitcoin ETFs with the SEC. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has been quoted as saying he expects an approval this year.

But if the SEC rejects these applications, like it has others in the past, perhaps Americans with an appetite for digital assets in ETF form will need to look north. 

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

Figure, founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, has emerged as a leader in onchain RWAs, with ~$17.5B publicly tokenized. The platform’s ecosystem volume is growing ~40% YoY as it expands beyond HELOCs into student loans, DSCR loans, unsecured loans, bankruptcy claims, and more. Operationally, Figure cuts average loan production cost by ~93% and compresses median funding time from ~42 days to ~10, creating a durable speed-and-cost advantage.

article-image

If the president breaks the Fed, he’ll own the budget problems

article-image

Combining Franklin Templeton’s tokenization expertise with Binance’s trading infrastructure could speed crypto adoption, companies say

article-image

The firm’s upcoming filing comes as competition heats up over the USDH stablecoin

article-image

Robinhood and Coinbase are vying for user attention with new social features that could rival Twitter

article-image

Atkins backs predictable digital asset framework through Project Crypto, marking a departure from prior enforcement tactics

by Blockworks /
article-image

Following a roundtable, the startup emerges as frontrunner, despite entries from Paxos, Ethena, and others