On February 15, 2019, the Director of the Ontario Securities
Commission (OSC) published a letter (Letter) outlining his view on
the issuance of a receipt to 3iQ Corp. (Manager) for a preliminary
prospectus in respect of The Bitcoin Fund (Fund). This filing
raised the issue of whether a non-redeemable investment fund (NRIF)
that would invest substantially all of its assets in bitcoin should
be offered to retail investors. The OSC refused to issue a receipt,
citing the lack of established regulation for the bitcoin market,
which the director believed raised investor protection issues
regarding the valuation, safeguarding and liquidity of bitcoin.
Facts
The Fund proposed to invest in long-term holdings of bitcoin
purchased from various sources, including bitcoin exchanges. The
investment objective of the Fund was to seek to provide investors
with: (i) exposure to bitcoin and the daily price movements of the
U.S. dollar price of bitcoin; and (ii) the opportunity