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Canada Beats the US — Approves First Bitcoin ETF in North America

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Eight times since 2013, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has repeatedly refused to approve applications for a cryptocurrency-linked exchange traded fund (ETF).  See here  and here.  Time and again, the SEC said that the applicants were unable to persuade the Commission that the Bitcoin market was sufficiently resistant to market manipulation.  Another common theme was the dissent of Hester Pierce (affectionately known as “Crypto Mom), who said in January 2020, for example:

This order is the latest in a long string of disapproval orders that the Commission has issued regarding bitcoin-related products. This line of disapprovals leads me to conclude that this Commission is unwilling to approve the listing of any product that would provide access to the market for bitcoin and that no filing will meet the ever-shifting standards that this Commission insists on applying to bitcoin-related products—and only to bitcoin-related products.

On February 12, 2021, Purpose Investments Inc. said Canadian securities regulators (the Ontario Securities Commission) has approved the launch of Purpose Bitcoin ETF, making it the first to gain regulatory approval in North America.  Purpose Investments said: “The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directly in physically settled Bitcoin, not derivatives, allowing investors easy and efficient access to the emerging asset class of cryptocurrency.”

The Fact Sheet for the ETF is available here.  It will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker signal BTCC.

Despite pushback from the SEC, demand for bitcoin-based investments has soared during bitcoin’s 2021 rally. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust that follows bitcoin has gained 272% in the last twelve months.  Currently, in the U.S., VanEck Associates Corp. and Bitwise Asset Management have pending ETF filings before the SEC.  Perhaps the approval in Canada will lead to a different result this time in the U.S.. Gary Gensler, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was named chair of the SEC last month by U.S. President Joe Biden. 

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David Zaslowsky is partner in the Litigation Department of Baker McKenzie's New York office. He helps companies solve complex commercial disputes in arbitration and litigation, especially those involving cross-border issues and Section 1782 discovery. David has a degree in computer science and, as a result, has worked on numerous technical-related disputes, including, most recently, those involving blockchain and artificial intelligence. In April 2025, Attorney Intel named David one of the top 25 blockchain lawyers in the country. He is the editor of the Firm's blockchain blog and co-editor of the firm's International Litigation & Arbitration Newsletter. David has been included for a number of years in the Chambers USA Guide and Chambers Global Guide for his expertise in international arbitration. He also sits as an arbitrator and is on the roster of arbitrators for a number of arbitral institutions. David sits on the Board and chairs the governance committee of the New York International Arbitration Center, and is a founding member of the International Arbitration Club of New York. For over 35 years, he has written and spoken often on the subjects of arbitration and international litigation.

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