Canadian regulators approved the world’s first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund from Purpose Investments, allowing investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without the hassle of learning how to trade it directly and secure it from loss or theft. (The Logic)

Talking point: Investing-industry leader Som Seif, who runs Purpose Investments, has won a tight race to launch a Bitcoin ETF first. Horizons ETFs Management (Canada), Evolve Funds, Accelerate Financial Technologies and Arxnovum Investments also filed preliminary prospectuses with the Ontario Securities Commission in recent weeks to launch Bitcoin ETFs of their own. Previously, the only exposure to Bitcoin that asset managers could give their clients was through closed-ended funds, which were often much more expensive than buying the cryptocurrency directly. The move will make it easier for retail investors to hop on the bandwagon for Bitcoin, a notoriously volatile asset that has nevertheless made huge gains since the start of the year.