Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum offer an alternative route for building and storing wealth. While directly holding these digital assets is a popular option, investors are also clamoring for financial products such as crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Ethereum ETFs have also picked up steam and become a major talking point. Ethereum is the most widely used blockchain technology, and Ether, the digital currency of this platform, is the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look at the currently available Canadian cryptocurrency ETFs. The list below includes 13 options available on the Canadian market sorted by assets under management, and all data presented is current as of August 23, 2024.
Assets under management: C$2.3 billion
Hosted by Canadian investment company Purpose Investments, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF is backed by 26,983.5 Bitcoins and has a management expense ratio of 1 percent.
Assets under management: C$754.17 million
The ETF’s objective is to give investors exposure to Bitcoin via an institutional-quality fund platform, as its holdings are wholly Bitcoin and are kept in cold storage. At 0.4 percent, this fund boasts one of the lowest management fees of all the crypto funds on the market.
Assets under management: C$506.30 million
While it previously had a management fee of 0.4 percent, in line with the CI and Galaxy funds, the Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF lowered it in January 2024 to an ultra-low management fee of 0.39 percent.
Assets under management: C$455.29 million
At the time, CI Global Asset Management suggested that “owning Ether is similar to owning a basket of early-stage, high-growth technology stocks.”
The CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF has notably low management fees of just 0.4 percent.
Assets under management: C$369.30 million
The Purpose Ether ETF offers investors exposure to the daily price movements of physically settled Ether tokens with a management fee of 1 percent.
Assets under management: US$299.41 million
Assets under management: C$223.38 million
Launched a week after the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, its holdings of Bitcoin are priced based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate, a once-a-day benchmark index price for Bitcoin denominated in US dollars.
Assets under management: C$105.5 million
The Purpose Bitcoin Yield ETF uses a covered call strategy to generate yield for investors, which involves writing call options on Bitcoin. Call options give the buyer an option to purchase an asset at a specific price on or before a specific date.
Its structure allows the fund to earn income from option premiums while providing investors with exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements. Its distributions are paid monthly.
Assets under management: C$63.4 million
Like the Purpose Bitcoin Yield ETF, the Purpose Ether Yield ETF offers investors an opportunity to invest in Ether while also generating yield. Purpose Investments lends a portion of its Ether holdings to institutional borrowers and earns interest on those loans.
Investors who purchase shares of this ETF receive a portion of the interest earned in monthly distributions.
Assets under management: C$63.04 million
Assets under management: C$62.3 million
Assets under management: C$39.09 million
This product from Evolve ETFs allows investors to diversify their crypto portfolios and provides indirect exposure to the two coins, weighing them by market capitalization and rebalancing its holdings on a monthly basis. Bitcoin makes up the majority of its portfolio.
While this ETF has no management fee, the underlying funds that hold both Bitcoin and Ether have management fees of 0.75 percent plus applicable taxes.
Assets under management: C$21.4 million
The Fidelity Advantage Ether ETF has a management fee of 0.4 percent.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2021.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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