Canada: Regulators Approve Country’s First Blockchain ETF

Harvest Portfolios has received approval to issue the first ever Blockchain-based Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in Canada.

After extensive internal testing, Harvest Portfolios has received approval to issue Canada’s first ever Blockchain-based Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), as reported in a press release Feb. 1. The fund (ticker symbol HBLK), set to begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange next week, is focused on large and small-scale Blockchain corporations.

Harvest Portfolios already has their Harvest Blockchain Technologies Index, designed to track the performance of issuers in both the large-cap and emerging Blockchain segments.

The approval is good news for two other firms, First Trust Portfolios Canada and Evolve Funds Group Inc., who have already filed for similar ETFs. First Trust’s ETF manager Karl Cheong said that “every conversation with clients inevitably” leads to questions regarding Bitcoin and Blockchain investments.

In contrast to the news coming from Canada, US regulators have stated that such funds are not ready for regulation under US law.

Dalia Blass, director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) investment management group said that the SEC has “significant outstanding questions concerning how funds holding substantial amounts of cryptocurrencies and related products” would satisfy legal requirements in the US.