Canadian Regulators Approve Country’s First Blockchain ETF

Harvest Portfolios, an independent Canadian investment management company, filed the preliminary paperwork for its Blockchain Technologies ETF (ticker: HBLK) in January, seeking to provide Canadian investors with the opportunity to buy into the blockchain technology sector, according to the Globe and Mail.

According to the Globe and Mail, two other Canadian companies, First Trust Portfolios Canada and Evolve Funds Group Inc., are also seeking to launch blockchain funds, and both filed their first prospectuses with regulators this week.

“Every conversation we are having with clients – regardless if we are talking about a Canadian equities product or a U.S. equity product – inevitably leads to [a discussion about] blockchain or bitcoin,” Karl Cheong, head of ETFs for First Trust Portfolios Canada, told the Globe and Mail.

Evolve Funds Inc. claims that its proposed blockchain ETF, known as LINK, would be the first “actively managed” available to Canadian investors. The product will position the company to “capitalize on emerging opportunities in the industry.”

Its fund will invest in “equity securities of issuers that are involved in the research, development, or utilization of blockchain technologies, or involved in the supply chain for blockchain applications including technology hardware,? the company said in a statement.

As previously reported by CoinDesk, the first blockchain ETFs to trade in the U.S. launched on Nasdaq and NYSE Arca last month.

Image via Shutterstock 

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