Evolve Funds Group Inc. is aiming to offer Canada’s first cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund.
In a news release, the company said it has filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian securities regulators for a fund called Evolve Bitcoin ETF (BITS).
The fund will seek to replicate the performance of exposure to Bitcoin obtained through investments in CFE Bitcoin (USD) Futures. The fund will invest directly or indirectly in exchange-traded futures contracts as well as other financial instruments and derivatives that provide similar return characteristics.
Read: What are the merits and risks of investing in Bitcoin?
“Accessing Bitcoin is not easy for many . . . Investors are currently unable to trade them in a regular brokerage account,” said Raj Lala, president and chief executive officer of Evolve ETFs, in the release. “As more and more of the world goes digital, usage of cryptocurrencies could increase significantly in the coming years,” he adds.
BITS will offer investors both hedged and unhedged units, and Evolve Funds will act as portfolio manager.
The announcement by Evolve Funds follows the company’s launch of two funds on Sept. 20. One was a gender diversity ETF for responsible investors and the other was a cyber security ETF. (In July, the company filed a preliminary prospectus for five new funds, including those two.)
This article originally appeared on the website of Benefits Canada‘s companion publication, advisor.ca.