BlackRock Introduces Hybrid Equity-Bitcoin Fund in Canada

BlackRock Canada has launched the iShares Equity + Bitcoin ETF Portfolio (IBQT), which combines global equities with a fixed 3% allocation to Bitcoin. The fund targets a 97% allocation to global equities and 3% to Bitcoin, giving investors combined exposure through one listed product on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The IBQT fund gets its crypto exposure indirectly through BlackRock's Canadian iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), which trades on Cboe Canada. This means investors in IBQT never hold Bitcoin directly; they hold shares of a fund that holds shares of another fund tracking Bitcoin's price.

The annual management fee for IBQT is 0.22%, and BlackRock simultaneously launched an international equity fund, XINT, with a 0.23% fee. XINT tracks more than 5,000 companies outside Canada and the United States through the MSCI ACWI ex North America IMI Index.