Cryptocurrency financial firm Galaxy Digital has collaborated with Itáu Asset Management to launch a suite of physically backed digital asset exchange-traded funds in Brazil. The first ETF in the deal is IT Now Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BITI11) – which trades on the Brazilian B3 Stock Exchange.
- BITI11, now trading since November 10, will offer clients direct exposure to Bitcoin, with the investments firm (Galaxy) adding that it was also eying other cryptocurrencies under the partnership, although these weren’t named.
- According to the global chief of assets management at Galaxy, Steve Kurz, the partnership will also introduce ether-focused ETFs to Brazil in diverse strategies. The executive has termed the Latin American nation as a “hotbed of crypto adoption,” saying that Galaxy was also looking into the European and Asian markets.
- In September, Galaxy teamed up with Invesco (a US-based investment manager) to launch two ETFs – The Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF (SATO) and the Invesco Alerian Galaxy Blockchain Users and Decentralised Commerce ETF (BLKC) – both started trading in last month.
- Itáu Asset Management is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has been operating since 1957, serving 65 million users across 18 countries. On the other hand, Galaxy Digital is headquartered in New York with $2.1 billion in Assets Under Management.
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