According to the recent reports, Canadian asset management firm 3iQ has launched a public Bitcoin fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). As many as 1.5 million Class A ‘QBTC.U’ shares have been listed on TSX. and as of now, those are trading for $11 each. This is the first public bitcoin fund to be hosted on a major stock exchange like TSX which processes $97 billion in monthly trade. Moreover, this Bitcoin fund will be backed by the Gemini Crypto Exchange as its custodian.
3iQ confirmed the news through a blog post on its official website yesterday mentioning, “3iQ Corp. is pleased to announce that The Bitcoin Fund (the “Fund”) has completed both its initial public offering of units and its merger with 3iQ Bitcoin Trust, as a result of which the Fund now has 1,491,800 Class A Units outstanding representing at closing total assets of approximately US$14 million. The Class A Units will commence trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol QBTC.U.”
It is being speculated that the public Bitcoin fund will act as a catalyst for mainstream investors to dive into the crypto space without being worried about crypto security or custody.
3iQ originally proposed the Bitcoin Fund back in 2017. However, it was not until recently that the fund was granted by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
Apart from 3iQ, TSX also hosts shares of Bitcoin mining company Hut8 and crypto bank Galaxy Digital. Moreover, Horizon’s ETFs are also listed on TSX.
3iQ’s Stablecoin
3iQ has developed its own stablecoin named QCAD in collaboration with Mavennet. QCAD is an ERC-20 token that is pegged to the Canadian dollar and will be regulated by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) from June.
