Latin America Gets its First BTC ETF
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The first Latin American BTC ETF, dubbed QBTC11, has been approved by Brazil’s regulators, QR Capital, the company behind it, announced today.
“URGENT: CVM has just approved the first BTC ETF in Latin America, the QBTC11,” QR Capital announced, adding, “The ETF of QR Asset Management, manager of the QR Capital Group, will be listed on B3, which becomes the second exchange in the world to have a 100% BTC ETF.”
URGENTE: CVM acaba de aprovar o primeiro ETF de BTC da América Latina, o QBTC11.
O ETF da QR Asset Management, gestora do grupo QR Capital, será listado na B3, que se torna a segunda bolsa do mundo a ter um ETF 100% de BTC.
— QR Capital (@qrcapital) March 19, 2021
URGENTE: CVM acaba de aprovar o primeiro ETF de BTC da América Latina, o QBTC11.ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, are a special type of security that comprise certain assets (or baskets of them) and track their market prices. In the case of BTC ETFs, that asset is BTC. ETFs are tradeable on traditional exchanges and allow institutions to gain exposure to an asset’s volatility without actually holding it.
According to QR Capital, QBTC11 would allow qualified investors to easily and securely gain exposure to BTC without worrying about wallets or private keys. The ETF was authorized by Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM, Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission) and the Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3).
“With this safeguard, investors gain even more legal certainty to add BTC to their portfolios in the most professional way possible. But, more importantly, the QBTC11 places Brazil at the epicenter of the most modern financial regulation,” QR Capital added.
QR Capital added that QBTC11 will track the CME CF BTC Reference Rate, a crypto-focused index created by derivatives giant CME Group and real-time price benchmark CF Benchmarks. The latter is also used by one of the three BTC ETFs in Canada.
Paving the way for a US BTC ETF
The firm noted that in addition to being the first 100% BTC ETF in Latin America, QBTC11 is also the fourth of its kind in the world and comes just weeks after the launch of Canada’s three BTC ETFs.
QR Capital even suggested that QBTC11’s approval could speed up the launch of a similar product in the United States, as it’s certified by the CVM. “This is because the CVM, as well as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is an affiliated member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions,” QR Capital asserted.
Indeed, while several BTC ETF proposals have been filed with the US SEC over the past few years, the regulator has turned them all down on the grounds that nobody has yet managed to convincingly demonstrate that BTC is inherently resistant to manipulation.
The latest attempt at a US BTC ETF comes from global investment firm VanEck, filed yesterday. From filing, the SEC has 45 days to either accept or deny the firm’s application.
