Months after one of the world’s largest asset managers asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to approve its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, Fidelity launched such a fund in Canada on Dec. 2, according to media reports.
Fast facts
- The Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF (FBTC:CN) will invest in Bitcoin directly or through derivative instruments such as futures and options, and customers including registered investment advisers will be able to make purchases in the fund with Canadian or U.S. dollars.
- The ETF, which tracks actual Bitcoin prices, began trading Thursday at US$24.87 and was down 14% by end of Monday, at US$21.38 in the midst of a broad global downturn affecting stocks and crypto markets. The price of Bitcoin fell 10% during the same three days, according to Coingecko, but the S&P500 recovered Monday to end the three days up 1%.
- The SEC has approved only derivatives-based futures Bitcoin ETFs and rejected two spot Bitcoin ETFs in the last several weeks. Fidelity applied for approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in March but hasn’t received a response yet.