Galaxy Digital, the crypto investment management firm along with CI Global Asset Management has filed a preliminary prospectus for the world’s first Ether ETF called CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF. The prospectus filing was done with the securities commissions or similar authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada.
Kurt MacAlpine, Chief Executive Officer of CI Financial, the parent company of CI GAM said,
“Cryptocurrencies are transforming the financial world, and we are excited to launch the world’s first ETF investing directly in Ether, one of the most highly valued cryptocurrencies,”
Pretty psyched to be launching the worlds first $ETH ETF with our partner CI Global Asset Mgt. ??$GLXY. https://t.co/IH4ISkuJWk
— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) February 25, 2021
The partnership would see CI Global work as the manager of the ETF and Galaxy Digital will act as the Ether sub-advisor for the ETF allowing them to trade Ether on behalf of the ETF.
Mike Novogratz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Digital Holdings said,
“Ethereum is the leading candidate to be the base layer of Web 3.0, and Ether is a growth asset that provides investors exposure to the explosion of decentralized applications,
“We are thrilled to expand our advisory relationship with CI,” said Steve Kurz, Partner, and Head of Asset Management. “The CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF represents a global first, giving investors a simplified path to benefit from the potential growth of this important asset class.”
This would also make Canada the origin country of the world’s two first crypto ETFs as Purpose launched the world’s first Bitcoin ETF only last week.
Institutional Demand For Ether Catching up With Bitcoin?
The growing institutional demand for Bitcoin is quite evident from the foray of fortune 500 companies making billion-dollar Bitcoin investments that include the likes of MicroStrategy and Tesla. Many believe the second-largest cryptocurrency Ether which is also the only digital asset apart from Bitcoin that is not considered security could attract a lot of institutional demand owing to its regulatory clearance.
CME group which launched the world’s first Bitcoin futures market also launched Ether Futures this February owing to the rising institutional demand. The first Bitcoin ETF launched last week registered massive traffic in the first 4-days of trading accumulating over 4000+ Bitcoins, and the upcoming Ether ETF could also receive a similar frenzy when launched.