Shares of the Canada’s first (and the world’s first, for the matter) exchange traded fund (ETF) tracking the price of Bitcoin have had a rocky start since the fund began publicly trading on Feb. 18. Shortly after the fund came live, shares traded as high as $11. Today, shares of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (TSX:BTCC.B) can be scooped up for around $9 per share at the time of writing.
Investors looking at bitcoin can pick up shares in this fund for a nearly 20% discount from these highs. Accordingly, some may be enticed to consider picking up shares in this retail ETF at these levels. The question is: is right now the right time to get into these digital currencies?
Bitcoin has come under pressure due to a number of short-term headwinds of late. These headwinds have ranged from concerns around the speculative element of bitcoin to concerns that influential backers of the currency could pull out at any point in time.
Of course, I’ve been on the sidelines with respect to these digital coins for some time due to the speculative nature of these assets. Without being able to fundamentally value an investment, especially an investment such as Bitcoin that tends to be highly volatile, my stance on Bitcoin in general, and an ETF tracking Bitcoin prices, is that this is a non-investable asset right now.
That said, this ETF is one option for retail investors to get their hands easily on Bitcoin. For those eager crypto investors, this ETF is also a great way to track how the currency is doing in real time. That said, it’s not an investment I would recommend long-term conservative investors consider right now.
Invest wisely, my friends.
