Canada Set To Launch Carbon Neutral Crypto Spot ETFs

KEY POINTS

Purpose Investments is responsible for the release of these ETFs in Canada
Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, James Seyffart, broke the news on Twitter
Purpose had also released North America's first Bitcoin ETF in February

Canada is looking for a greener alternative to cryptocurrency investment as it plans to release two carbon-neutral cryptocurrency-backed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Toronto Stock Exchange, on Tuesday.

The rising interest of institutional investors in spot ETFs resulted in Canada-based asset manager Purpose Investments to come up with its two new Bitcoin and Ethereum based cryptocurrency ETFs. These ETFs will provide investors with a carbon offset.

Canadian ETFs are based on actual cryptocurrencies, not futures contracts like the recently launched ProShares BITO ETF. The Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs will debut in the Toronto Stock Exchange under the tickers BTCC.J and ETHH.J, respectively.

A research analyst within Bloomberg Intelligence, James Seyffart, broke this news on Twitter.

Tomorrow @PurposeInvest is launching new share classes for their #Bitcoin and #Ethereum ETFs -- $BTCC and $ETHH. They will be "Carbon Offset" share classes and will be denoted "/J". Pages below. pic.twitter.com/W9QYS4232U
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 8, 2021

Purpose Investments has also partnered with Patch, which will help in measuring the carbon footprint of the crypto portfolios and offer carbon-removal solutions. According to a whitepaper released by Purpose, the firm looks to help "environmentally conscious investors" who are reluctant while investing in cryptocurrencies "irrespective of their views on the future of cryptocurrencies."

"First, our partnership with Patch allows the measurement of the carbon footprint of our portfolio, whether for bitcoin or ether. Then, we buy an equal amount of carbon offsets to balance these emissions," said Purpose in their whitepaper.

The firm will connect other "companies in need of a carbon-removal solution with those who provide them."

According to the Prospectus released by the firm, Purpose's new BTC fund held 24,167 BTC (approx. $US1.6 billion) as of Nov. 8. On the other end, the Ethereum fund had 86,906 ETH (approx. $US417 million) as of Nov. 8.

Purpose also released North America's first Bitcoin ETF in the month of February, capturing the interest of many institutional investors by providing investors with exposure to bitcoin without needing to hold the digital tokens themselves.