Canadian Firm Files for Bitcoin ETF on Toronto Stock Exchange

A preliminary prospectus for a new bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been filed with Canada’s securities regulators.

Investment firm Accelerate Financial Technologies announced Wednesday it is seeking approval to list the Accelerate Bitcoin ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the ticker “ABTC.”

The ETF would offer units denominated in both the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar, with a management fee of 0.70%.

“Bitcoin has been one of the best-performing asset classes on a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year basis, both absolute and risk-adjusted,” according to Julian Klymochko, founder and CEO of Accelerate.

“Given bitcoin’s historical track record and future potential, along with its portfolio diversification properties, we are looking forward to offering investors exposure to the asset class in an easy-to-use, low-cost ETF,” he said.

Accelerate isn’t the only company hoping to get a bitcoin ETF listed in Canada. On Jan. 13, Arxnovum Investments Inc. filed documents for the Arxnovum Bitcoin ETF, also planned to list on the TSX.

Over in the neighboring U.S., after multiple rejections of past bids for bitcoin ETFs by the Securities and Exchange Commission, two new applications, from VanEck and Valkyrie, have been filed since December 2020.