Bitcoin ETF roars in debut with $165 million of trading volume

North America’s first Bitcoin ETF got off to a stellar start in its debut, with investors exchanging $165 million worth of shares.

After a relentless surge in the world’s largest digital currency, the first Bitcoin product that’s officially labeled an exchange-traded fund debuted Thursday in Toronto. It’s worth noting, though, that Europe has several crypto-tracking products that function like an ETF. The new fund, called Purpose Bitcoin ETF (ticker BTCC), invests directly in “physical/digital Bitcoin,” issuer Purpose Investments Inc. said in a statement.

The cryptocurrency has captivated investors from billionaire Elon Musk to hedge-fund moguls including Alan Howard and Paul Tudor Jones. It may well be “the stimulus asset,” DoubleLine Capital LP chief Jeffrey Gundlach tweeted, in a reference to Bitcoin’s rally amid a wave of cash pumped into the financial system during the pandemic.