btcmanager.com
Canada’s 3iQ public Bitcoin Fund has officially launched on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange, according to an official statement on June 23, 2021.
3iQ Live on Nasdaq Dubai
After several months in the pipeline, 3iQ, Canada’s largest digital asset investment fund manager with more than CAD 2.5 billion in assets, has now expanded its reach to the Middle East region by launching on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange.
Per a statement on the exchange’s website, the 31Q Bitcoin Fund (QBTC) went live on its platform at exactly 10:00 am Dubai time on June 23, 2021, with a reference price of US$34.57 per unit. The firm says a total of 11,631,077 units of the fund has been admitted into the platform in the form of dematerialized securities.
It will be recalled that 3iQ rolled out its Bitcoin Fund initial public offering (IPO) earlier in November 2019, offering holders of its class A and class F units exposure to bitcoin and opportunity for long-term capital appreciation.
Aiming for Global Reach
Earlier in April 2021, reports emerged that 3iQ had received the necessary regulatory approval from financial authorities in the UAE for the dual listing of the Bitcoin Fund (QBTCu.TO) on the Nasdaq Dubai platform, effectively making history as the first cryptocurrency-based fund in the Middle East.
At the time, Frederick Pye, chairman, and CEO of 3iQ reiterated that the primary objective of spreading to the Middle East is to offer residents exposure to digital assets via a regulated platform in their time hours, as the crypto markets never sleep.
In his words:
“The idea is bitcoin trades 24hours a day…so our interest is to bring a regulated product to the Dubai market in their time hours. We believe that this is the opportune moment to expand his unique investment opportunity into the Middle East region.”
One major strong point of bitcoin funds such as 3iQ’s offering is that they save investors the stress of storing the underlying cryptoasset. Zachary Cefaratti, CEO of Dalma Capital Management says there is a huge demand for QBTC in the Middle East, especially in areas where banks do not support crypto transactions.
“There’s just been a lot of grassroots demand for it. Historically, investors who tried to invest in bitcoin through their regional banks…in most cases, if the banks found out they were sending money to crypto exchanges, they would actually close their accounts. So this is a huge shift and a massive change,” he said at the time.
With the bitcoin fund now live in Dubai, Pye’s focus will now be shifted to exchanges in Singapore, Taiwan, Sweden, and the U.S., as he’s hinted that talks are ongoing.