Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital to launch new Bitcoin fund in Canada

Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency merchant bank founded by Mike Novogratz, is expanding its crypto offerings in Canada.

According to a Nov. 16 announcement, Galaxy Digital has partnered with major Canadian investment company CI Global Asset Management to launch a public Bitcoin (BTC) fund in the country.

The CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund is a “closed-end investment fund” that aims to provide unitholders with exposure to Bitcoin. The fund will invest directly in Bitcoin using the fund’s holdings of the token based on prices of the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index, the announcement notes.

As part of the new initiative, CI GAM has filed and acquired a receipt for a preliminary prospectus for the initial public offering of CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund. The fund will offer units of Class A and Class F units at a price of $10 each. While CI GAM will be responsible for managing the new Bitcoin fund, Galaxy Digital will act as its subadvisor, meaning that it will execute all BTC trading on behalf of the fund.

According to the announcement, the new fund will be offered on a “best-efforts basis in each of the provinces and territories of Canada.”

Apart from the CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund, Galaxy Digital has launched a number of Bitcoin funds like the Galaxy Bitcoin Fund and the Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund. The company also runs several funds based on other cryptos like EOS.

The new Bitcoin fund was introduced shortly after Galaxy Digital reported a large surge in trading volumes in the third quarter of 2020. As reported, the firm saw a 75% year-on-year growth in trading volumes in Q3 2020, reaching $1.4 billion.