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Canada’s First Bitcoin ETF Collects $421M In First 2 Days

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Times are changing and Bitcoin ETF’s long-term outlook is brightening, at least in North America. The first-ever Bitcoin ETF that was launched earlier this week has reportedly collected an astonishing $421 million in assets in the first two days of its launch.

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This was revealed by Bloomberg’s Analyst Eric Balchunas in his latest tweet about the world’s first Bitcoin ETF by the asset management company, Purpose Investments Inc. It made a debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange on the 18th of Feb.

Soaring Bitcoin ETF

Here’s what Balchunas had to say about the latest figures of the Bitcoin ETF,

“Proportionally speaking it is the equiv of a US ETF taking $8 billion in first two days. If it were to keep up this pace it will be the biggest ETF in Canada in 20 days.”

He also went on to add,

“The premium on this puppy was a mere 0.40% on Friday, or 250x less than $GBTC on Day Two. The beauty of arbitrage. This is about what we thought it would be, 20-60bps depending on day and poss over 100b on crazy days. In short, working as designed”

The figures show the popularity of Bitcoin ETFs in the country as its underlying crypto-asset continued to conquer new highs every week as it sits above the $1 trillion market cap.

The immense popularity can be attributed to the fact that these vehicles offer investors looking for a low risk way of reaping the profits Bitcoin’s bull run.

For the uninitiated, two Bitcoin exchange-traded funds were launched back to back on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week. Leading the charge was Purpose’s ETF, under the ticker “BTCC” launched this Thursday.

The fund witnessed a monumental interest, as it was found to be trading more than $100 million shares on its first day alone. If this continues, the ETF could potentially reach $1 billion in assets by the end of next week.

Just a day later, Evolve Funds Group Inc which happens to be yet another Canadian platform with $1.7 billion in assets under management [AUM], announced the launch of the Bitcoin ETF – EBIT. This Bitcoin ETF, on the other hand, was trading at $1.271 million AUM.

The latest news definitely raises stakes for the US policymakers especially the SEC which is yet put a stamp of approval to a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

Canadian Investment Firm Raises $180M For A Bitcoin Trust In An IPO

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Initial public offerings [IPO] have taken place under the crypto spotlight. Canadian investment platform, Ninepoint Partners is the latest to jump the bandwagon. The platform broke the record for raising the highest amount for a Bitcoin Trust in the country. Ninepoint Partners LP got its Bitcoin trust listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

A whopping $230 million Canadian dollars was raised in the initial public offering. The money raised in the IPO would be accessible in the form of units 7,318,276 Class A Units; 2,865,314 Class F Units; and 7,806,901 Class S Units. The Class A units will be out and about in Canadian dollars as well as USD on the Toronto Stick Exchange. The aforementioned units would be available under the symbols BITC.U and BITC.UN. With this fund, the platform hopes to provide holders of Units of the Fund with Bitcoin. Ninepoint would reportedly operate as a trustee as well as the manager of the Fund.

John Wilson, the Managing Partner and the Co-CEO of the Toronto-based firm revealed that the company was “delighted” with the accomplishment of the listing.

Several platforms including, Gemini and Coinbase have been revealing their intentions of going public. While Coinbase has already commenced working towards it, Gemini’s IPO is still under the wraps.

James Fox, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Ninepoint, also commented on the firm’s latest move and said,

“We believe our institutional quality trust structure and lowest management fee of any listed bitcoin investment fund in Canada will be a winning combination for continued investor interest. With this initial offering, we are laying the foundation for the success and growth of our Digital Asset Group. We would like to thank all of our partners and in particular Canaccord Genuity Corp. and INFOR Financial Inc. for their part in executing our first bitcoin offering.”

Last year, 3iQ rolled out a trust fund and became the first to do so in the country. Recently, the 3iQ raised about $75 million and launched an Ethereum fund.

Canada’s CBDC Preps Going About In Full Swing Reveals Deputy Governor Of Canadian Central Bank

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Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDC] is currently the topic of interest of several governments across the globe. Canada seems to be alarmed by the swift movement of other nations as the country was seen prepping for the launch of its very own CBDC. The deputy governor of the Canadian central bank, Timothy Lane appeared in an interview giving the world insights about the development of the country’s CBDC.

Canada To Roll Out CBDC Sooner Than Expected

The emergence of COVID-19 limited the use of cash and fueled the need for digital payments. This gave the authorities a reality check and initiated the fast flow in the development of CBDC. While China revealed that it was way ahead in the CBDC race, several countries were seen trying to catch up, whereas a few others continued slacking.

Timothy Lane, the deputy governor of the Bank of Canada who is also the head of research at the central bank’s crypto and fintech department revealed that the bank’s perception towards CBDCs has changed over the course of nine months. While the pandemic was one of the reasons, the other was the emergence of other virtual currencies. The central bank feared that these had the potentials of undermining or disrupting the monetary sovereignty of Canada.

While the country is working without setting a deadline, Lane revealed that the world might see a Canadian CBDC “sooner than expected.” Furthermore, China’s headway towards the development of CBDC has left many alarmed. Addressing the same, Lane said,

“The Chinese economy is big enough that even something that is only usable in China, it’s going to already have a very large market. At the same time, there are countries that China has closer economic ties with where there could be more use of a renminbi-based digital currency. I don’t really know if that’s part of their intent or not, to promote a greater use of the renminbi in electronic payments in other parts of the world.”

Additionally, several in the world believe that CBDCs embodied a solution that was in quest of a problem. Lane, however, believed otherwise. While suggesting that CBDCs would not have seen the light of the day if it did not address a real issue, Lane pointed out that it is a mere response to the change in finance and technology. Modernizing is very important. If people failed to do so and continued to dwell in the existing means, there would be a huge gap in the system, he added.

Canadian Central Bank Probes Security Threats Pertaining To CBDC

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China’s keenness towards the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDC] started a fire among other countries. While several countries still remain in the sidelines as spectators of the evolution of the financial sector, a few others have stepped up and have been exploring the subject. After exhibiting interest towards CBDCs Canada seems to have weighed out the good and the bad on the issuance of CBDCs.

A Potential Security Risk In The Making?

Recently, the Bank of Canada shared a report titled, “Security and convenience of central bank digital currency” highlighting the possible security issues that users could face due to CBDCs. The report formulated by Charles M. Khan and Francisco Rivadeneyra pointed out that the risks could vary from the use of central bank-issued currency for transactions to the storage of these assets. Elaborating on the risks the report read,

“Digital currencies allow users to aggregate balances in anonymous addresses on a scale not possible with cash. This creates trade-offs between security and convenience that do not exist for cash and traditional bank accounts.”

Since the central bank-issued currency would be token-based, it would most likely be secured by private keys. The use of private keys is not new to the crypto-verse, however, this would be an entirely new topic for several individuals. The use of private keys is extremely essential as it would permit the individual to engage in transactions of a certain address. However, the loss of these keys could further result in the loss of the balance in that particular account.

Stressing on the same, the report read,

“Managing private keys can be inconvenient for individuals, and this could stimulate demand for convenience solutions for managing keys and carrying out transactions. In response to this demand, a CBDC ecosystem will likely emerge, with public and private components.”

Khan and Rivadeneyra seemed to have solutions to these problems. The duo suggested that the users could make use of e-wallets and account providers instead of entirely relying on private keys. While e-wallets could help users manage multiple private keys, account providers or crypto exchanges could help recover balances of the users. Both of the aforementioned solutions could come in handy during the loss of private keys.

Additionally, highlighting the implications with regard to coming up with liability rules for the loss of CBDC the report suggested,

“If central banks establish liability rules for the loss of CBDC similar to those that exist for bank notes and traditional bank accounts, users will have the incentive to exert a greater level of care when managing their balances of CBDC. “

However, this approach is touted to be complicated. The issuance of CBDC seems like a huge leap towards financial advancement. Yet, formulating a CBDC that is accepted globally and can be stored at approved intermediaries is a task that is yet to be probed.

Coinsquare Attacker Discloses Evil Plan to Steal Bitcoin

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The hacker behind the Coinsquare attack is now planning to use the data he stole during the attack to steal bitcoin and other digital currencies. The Coinsquare attacker plans to use the personal information he stole from the cryptocurrency exchange in Canada in a series of SIM swap attacks to steal digital currencies.

According to an anonymous attacker during an online chat with the media outlet, “The original intent was to sell it, but we figured we ‘d make more money by swapping SIM accounts.”

SIM swapping tactic to be used by Coinsquare attacker

SIM swapping refers to the action of cloning a victim’s SIM card to develop a copy that works exactly like the original. This strategy will facilitate the criminals in receiving any information that is sent to the original SIM card which includes confirmation codes, 2-factor authentication codes, and many other data.

For instance, access to this information could be used to access the victim’s cryptocurrency exchange accounts and steal BTC among other cryptocurrencies. In fact, SIM Swapping has been a common practice by criminals to steal valuable information from their victims. Last year, two criminals were charged in Massachusetts for using the SIM swapping strategy to steal crypto worth $550,000.

Hacker wanted to prove the exchange wrong

According to the Coinsquare attacker, the Canadian-based crypto exchange annoyed them by claiming to be the most secure cryptocurrency exchange in the country; and he took it as a challenge so as to embarrass them. The anonymous hacker said:

“I set out to embarrass the company for claiming they (sic) the most secure Canadian exchange; and obviously that is a lie.“

Furthermore, the individual revealed evidence that he did actually breach the exchange in the form of a list with email and physical addresses; as well as cellphone numbers of more than 5,000 Coinsquare clients. Notably, Coinsquare users can be relieved that the list did not contain any passwords.

Bitcoin Exchanges and Payments to be Regulated as MSBs in Canada; Move a Major Win After Years of Lobbying

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The cloud of uncertainty surrounding bitcoin regulations has always been a major obstacle on the road to mainstream adoption. Despite the positive comments made by many mainstream officials, the cryptocurrency industry still suffers from the stigma ingrained in society.

In a major win for Bitcoin enthusiasts, Canada officially accepted Bitcoin as a regulated form of money. Bitcoin-based businesses in the country will be treated like any other form of business involved in currency exchange or payment processing.

In a series of tweets by Francis Pouliot, Chief Executive of BitcoinBull, it was explained how Bitcoin went from being considered a rogue asset to being an integral part of the financial ecosystem. Canada was one of the countries still dealing with the concept of cryptocurrencies at its nascent stages, with Pouliot playing a central role. According to the BitcoinBull official:

“The decision to add Bitcoin businesses to Canada’s Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act was made by Parliament in 2014 as part of Bill C-31 but it took 5 years to agree/negotiate what specific activities are covered and the technicalities of regulation.”

Pouliet admitted that he was not fully satisfied with the latest decision because some of the requests that had been made earlier had still been skirted. Under the new amendments, any user involved in transactions above the $10,000 mark must report this to the specific financial authorities. This particular decision differs in the case of fiat currencies because it does not apply to fiat bank transactions.

According to the Bitcoin evangelist, typical users do not need to worry about new regulations because they will not be affected internally. New changes will definitely affect cash-based businesses like the Bitcoin ATMs and the Bitcoin business. Organizations that already have strict KYC laws do not need to worry about changes due to their stance within the government. It is expected that additional provisions, such as large-scale virtual currency transaction reporting, will also be included in the Regulations by 1 June 2021.

It is stated that Canadian MSBs that are regulated for AML purposes must identify certain customers either because of an ongoing service agreement or because the customer performs specific types of transactions. Pouliot claimed that stronger regulations exist in the future, but more work needs to be done. At press time, Bitcoin enjoyed a bullish hold on the charts. The largest cryptocurrency in the world traded $9530 with a total market cap of $175,289 billion.