Regulators approve the country's first blockchain ETF

The Ontario Securities Commission approved Canada's first tradable fund (ETF) of Blockchain, to be launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange next week.

Harvest Portfolios, an independent Canadian investment management company, presented preliminary documentation for its ETF Blockchain Technologies (ticker: HBLK) in January, seeking to provide Canadian investors the opportunity to buy in the blockchain technology sector, according to The Globe and Mail.

The fund will invest "in equity securities of issuers exposed, directly or indirectly, to the development and implementation of blockchain and distributed accounting technologies," said a statement from Harvest Portfolios.

The company intends for the ETF to track blockchain technology projects, reflecting its index on Harvest Blockchain Technologies.

According to The Globe and Mail, two other Canadian companies, First Trust Portfolios Canada and Evolve Funds Group Inc., are also looking to launch blockchain funds, and presented their first prospects with regulators this week.

First Trust is already present in the US market. UU, and offers your blockchain ETF with the LEGR ticker. The presentation in Canada of its First Trust Indxx Transaction & Process ETF (ticker: BLCK), modeled after the Indxx Blockchain Index, is the product of customer demand, the company said.

"Every conversation we have with clients, regardless of whether we are talking about a Canadian equity product or a US equity product, inevitably leads to a discussion about blockchain or Bitcoin," Karl Cheong, chief ETFs for First Trust Portfolios Canada, he told the Globe and Mail.

Evolve Funds Inc. states that its proposed blockchain ETF, known as LINK, would be the first "actively managed" available to Canadian investors. The product will position the company to "capitalize on emerging opportunities in the industry."

Your fund will invest in "equity securities of issuers that are involved in the research, development or use of blockchain technologies or that participate in the supply chain of blockchain applications, including technology hardware," the company said in a statement.

The first Blockchain ETFs to trade in the US UU., Were launched on Nasdaq and NYSE Arca last month.