In another big stride forward in crypto adoption in Canada, three new Ether-based ETFs will be launched on Toronto’s stock exchange (TSX) today.
Canada’s green light to CI Global Asset Management, Purpose Investments and Evolve ETFs to launch mainstream investment products for Ethereum comes hot on the heels of Canada’s approval of the first-to-market Bitcoin ETFs. Canada’s first, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC), launched in late February and has already amassed over US$1 billion in assets.
Evolve has also already launched a Bitcoin ETF in Canada, while CI Global Asset Management will be a new addition to the crypto ETF space and plans to launch the CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF (TSX: ETHX). The firm is working with Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital on the fund. Galaxy Digital is also among the many organizations that has also applied for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States.
All three ETFs will invest directly in Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and the native token of the Ethereum network — which is the most actively used blockchain network for enterprises and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Both CI Global and Evolve have so far come out the most aggressive by waiving all fees for their Ethereum ETF in a bid to capture the majority of the market share.
“This voluntary management fee waiver will result in a 0% management fee for the Ether ETF until May 31, 2021, bringing an immediate value opportunity to investors for this limited time,” Evolve said in a press release.
Canada’s regulators are crypto forwards
Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected all attempts to launch a Bitcoin ETF in the United States since 2013, the crypto community and mainstream investors, looking for exposure in the nascent market, are eagerly awaiting the regulator’s decision on the application from mutual fund manager VanEck, which came in December 2020. VanEck’s application has been under review with the regulator for weeks and the SEC is expected to make a decision on April 29.
Meanwhile in Canada, three Bitcoin ETFs have already launched the three Ethereum-based ETFs approved as well — a sign that the country’s regulators are more optimistic about these investment vehicles than the U.S. SEC, which currently has about eight major applications waiting for a decision.
A senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, Eric Balchunas, tweeted about the three Canadian approvals last Friday, suggesting the U.S. SEC get on board, and allow these ETFs to also launch simultaneously in the spirit of fair competition.
“Canada is approving three Ethereum ETFs to launch on Tuesday,” Balchunas wrote. “Seems more fair than giving Purpose a crucial head start again. The SEC should/prob will do the same here.”
Ethereum has been trading high on spot markets but has suffered a correction with the majority of the cryptocurrency market following the frenzy that preceded Coinbase going public. Nevertheless, Ethereum is up over 1,300% over the last 12 months
Ether is currently trading for over US$2,100 per token after reaching an all-time high on April 16 of US$2,533 per ETH. The cryptocurrency now has a market cap of US$244,005,720,680, according to CoinMarketCap.
In a statement on its website, Som Seif, CEO and founder of Purpose Investments said, “While Bitcoin tends to get a lot of attention as it was the first major cryptocurrency, what Ether and the Ethereum ecosystem represent is one of the most exciting new technology visions today in society.”
