Purpose Investments and CI Global Asset Management both received approval to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Canada that offers exposure to ether.

The approval comes only two months after Canada approved its first bitcoin ETF.

Purpose is the manager of Purpose Ether ETF and Ether Capital Corporation is the consulting firm. The ETH will be managed in cold storage with Gemini acting as the subsidiary custodian and CIBC Mellon Global Securities acting as an administrator.


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On April 20th, CI Global Asset management will launch CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), charging a 0.4% management fee.

The approval comes two months after Canada approved the Purpose Bitcoin ETF which held 10,064 BTC in the first week of trading. At the same time, US bitcoin ETF applications have been on the rise in the hope that the new crypto-friendly Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chief Gary Gensler could build a more favourable atmosphere for crypto investment products.

CEO of Purpose Investments Som Seif said in a statement: “While bitcoin tends to get a lot of attention as it was the first major cryptocurrency, what ether and the Ethereum ecosystem represent is one of the most exciting new technology visions today in society.”

He continued: “By launching the first ETF in the world that directly owns and provides exposure to ether, we are enabling every investor to have access to this unique opportunity and ecosystem.”

The ETF is designed to provide exposure to ether by directly investing in physically settled ether without having to worry about wallets, keys etc. The ETF will offer three units: Canadian dollar currency hedged units (ETHH), Canadian dollar non-currency hedged units (ETHH.B) and US dollar units with ticker units (ETHH.U). TradeBlock, a CoinDesk subsidiary, is the index provider for Purpose.

CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF will exchange hands in Canadian and US dollars, ETHX.B and ETHX.U, respectively.

The approval comes shortly after the ETH Berlin update went live, lowering ether transaction costs and hosting a plethora of network upgrades in preparation for the next big change, EIP-1559 (London hard fork) due in July.

Exchange traded funds are another mechanism for investors to get exposure to Ethereum, and the official launch of regulated ETFs is a net positive for overall adoption and price appreciation.


Read More: a decentralised application network: the case for Ethereum


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