The world’s first EthereumEthereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading this week—and got off to an explosive start. All in all, the trio of Canadian ETFs have racked up $138 million in trading volume so far.
The Ethereum ETFs, run by Purpose Investments, Evolve ETFs, and CI Global Asset Management, started trading on Toronto’s stock exchange (TSX) Tuesday. The ETFs are products that allow investors to buy shares that represent the second biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum. Investors can trade them continually throughout the day but don’t have to worry about the tricky stuff that comes with holding crypto, like storage.
Day One of the Canadian Ether ETF Derby ($volume): 1. $ETHX (Galaxy): $21M 2. $ETHH (Purpose): $19M 3. $ETHR (Evolve): $3M (notes: this is about 1/5th what bitcoin ETF did on Day One. also, day one volume is largely buying so most will convert to assets.)
And they got off to an impressive start for an ETF launch in Canada. CI Global Asset Management (which is partnered with Galaxy Digital) traded over $22 million, according to figures shared with Decrypt. Since then, that number has risen to $79 million.
While Purpose traded $20 million on its first day and Evolve, $3 million. They both currently stand at $54 million and $5 million respectively.
But while that may sound like a lot, it’s still a fraction of what the Bitcoin ETFs traded when they kicked off earlier this year in Canada: Purpose’s Bitcoin ETF traded $80 million in its first hour and Evolve raised $421 million in just two days.
What this does show, however, is that there isindeed a market demand for crypto ETFs—despite the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) taking the position that US markets aren’t yet prepared for one. The SEC has repeatedly rejected applications from companies that want to set up a Bitcoin ETF in the US, partly because it claims that the Bitcoin market can still be easily manipulated.
Though, since Canada led the North American charge, with six crypto ETFs approved this year alone, analysts think it won’t be long before the SEC finally does approve one. Bloomberg ETF research analyst James Seyffart last week toldDecrypt that it’s likely the US will have a Bitcoin ETF this year.
And right now, the SEC is currently considering eight high-profile applications for Bitcoin ETFs.
If the US market’s hunger for crypto is anything like Canada’s, more records may soon be broken.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
The debate over whether Bitcoin is best suited for payments or as a store of value is flaring up again. This time, it comes after the price to send the leading cryptocurrency has been slashed.
Top Bitcoin blockchain explorer Mempool posted this week that now users of the biggest crypto network can pay as low as 0.1 satoshi per virtual byte (sat/vByte) to get their transactions processed. A satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, with 1 satoshi equaling 0.00000001 BTC.
Previously, it would cost...
Ethereum’s price has increased at nearly twice the rate of Solana’s over the past month, but the outperformance will likely be temporary, according to Adrian Fritz, head of research at Switzerland-based asset manager 21Shares.
Although Ethereum is the most secure and decentralized smart contract platform, Solana is still a smaller project with more upside, partly due to its community of developers that are constantly striving for “better execution,” he told Decrypt on Friday.
“Ethereum was almos...
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy can’t help sharing his crypto fumbles, notably declaring in 2021 that he “fucked up Bitcoin” by panic-selling his stash for a huge loss the year prior.
But the outspoken personality continues to play in the crypto world, including launching his own Solana meme coins last year and pumping-and-dumping others. Now he’s griping publicly about selling off his stash of XRP before the prominent cryptocurrency surged to an all-time high on Thursday, breaking a record...