Three weeks after Toronto-based FinTech company 3iQ received approval from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) to launch the country’s first-ever regulated bitcoin investment fund, the company is announcing it has filed its preliminary prospectus for that fund.
“We look forward to offering retail investors exposure to this exciting new asset class.”
The closed-end fund is aimed at giving accredited investors in Canada exposure to bitcoin. The prospectus follows a three-year push by 3iQ to legally manage a crypto investment fund. The OSC, which initially rejected the company’s application in February, appealed that decision this month.
“We look forward to offering retail investors exposure to this exciting new asset class within registered and traditional investment accounts,” said Howard Atkinson, chairman of 3iQ. “The performance and professionalism of our legal team at Osler and our audit team from Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton was critical to getting support from the [OSC].”
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3iQ was founded in 2012, and currently manages two digital asset funds including the 3iQ Bitcoin Trust and the 3iQ Global Cryptoasset Fund – two private investment funds. Gemini Trust Company, a New York-based cryptocurrency exchange and trust company, will act as custodian of the 3iQ’s bitcoin fund.
BetaKit spoke with 3iQ’s CEO Fred Pye earlier this month to talk about the impact of gaining OSC approval for the Bitcoin Fund, particularly amid recent strife with cryptocurrency exchanges QuadrigaCX and Einstein Exchange.
“We knew we could challenge this and we could fight and win, but we had to get it right,” Pye told BetaKit. “After the disaster of QuadrigaCX and, obviously now, Einstein Exchange, Canadians deserve a regulated, registered, and licenced product. Now they’ve got one, which is amazing.”