Fidelity Investments, one of the largest US asset managers with $4 trillion in AUM launched its first Bitcoin (BTC) spot ETF in Canada. The new spot ETF would be called Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF and will be represented by the ticker symbol $FBTC. The fund will buy physical BTC from the market and issue shares against it.
Fidelity’s decision to launch its spot Bitcoin ETF in Canada instead of the US shows, that the institutional firms are not going to wait for the US SEC approval to launch their product. Recently, the US SEC approved two Futures Bitcoin ETFs while rejecting the spot ETF proposal, claiming the BTC market is not mature enough and prone to manipulation. Fidelity was among the first BTC spot ETF applicants and also lobbied privately with the SEC but failed to convince them.
SEMI-SHOCK: Fidelity launching a spot bitcoin ETF in Canada this week. Didn’t know about this. Will easily be the biggest asset manager to date with a bitcoin ETF. pic.twitter.com/H2XJRBY3O6
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 30, 2021
The Crypto community lashed out at Gensler led SEC heavily for purposely approving a Futures based ETF rather than a spot one. Many claim the reason for such a decision was because it’s easier to manipulate a futures-based market than a spot one.
Is US Losing Bitcoin ETF Race?
Canada has become a growing hotspot for Bitcoin-based institutional products especially ETFs. Canada became the first country to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF from Purpose Group’s nearly a year before the US. Canada is not the only country that has approved a spot BTC ETF, recently Singapore also joined the ranks after it approved two new spots Bitcoin-based institutional ETFs.
Bloomberg ETF analysts had predicted that the SEC will likely approve a Bitcoin Futures ETF first and eventually approve a spot ETF by the first quarter of 2022. On one hand, the lawmakers have assured of positive regulations to keep the US ahead in the digital asset race, while on the other US federal agencies continue to crack down on crypto businesses.
