Fidelity Approved As Canada’s First Crypto Custodian, Is A Bitcoin ETF Next?

Incoming reports from The Globe and Mail suggest that regulators may have just given the nod for Fidelity Canada to start functioning as the country’s first bitcoin custodian.

Fidelity Investments Leverages High Investment Interest In Digital Assets

The firm was reportedly approved by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) in a bid to facilitate more Canadian institutions investing in bitcoin, including pension funds, mutual funds, portfolio managers, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) who are looking to get direct exposure to Bitcoin (BTC).

According to the president of Fidelity Clearing Canada FCC, Scott Mackenzie says there is presently a very high demand for investing in digital assets. And as the demand keeps growing at a quite considerable rate, institutional investors have also been on the lookout for sourcing for a regulated dealer platform where they can access the asset class.

Before now, most of the bitcoin funds that are operating in Canada only use U.S-based custodians. However, bringing in an alternative such as this to the local market, it’s going to be a good time for many more institutional investors to purchase BTC directly.

According to reports, the FCC currently offers its services to over 100 investment companies in Canada. So, together with Investments Canada ULC, they have well over $222-billion in assets under administration and management (as confirmed by a June 30 report).

Preliminary Prospectuses For New Bitcoin ETF and Bitcoin Mutual Fund Also Filed

Meanwhile, Fidelity Investments Canada ULC has also filed preliminary prospectuses for Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF™ and Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF Fund™. With the Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF™, the company will be leveraging FCC’s digital asset custodian services.

And with expectations for the products to be eligible for TFSAs, the whole investment objective of both funds is to invest in bitcoin.