The controversial digital currency Bitcoin may have taken another step towards the mainstream with the BC Securities Commission (BCSC) saying it’s registering a local investment fund manager that deal only in “crypto-currency” investments.
“This first registration allows access to Bitcoin investments, while providing the BCSC with unique mechanisms to monitor operations in a rapidly developing area,” BCSC’S leader Zach Masum said in a statement.
Bitcoin had once been considered the currency of the so-called “dark web” – allegedly used by drug dealers and other illicit trades – but these days it’s in the news for its rapid highs and lows on the markets.
Masum said the reputation for crypto-currencies is changing.
“It’s a definite association with Bitcoin in the past and even now it’s association with criminal activity. But what’s changed is that there are companies that have been coming out there launching funds using crypto-currencies, using Bitcoins and finding other uses of Bitcoins, but having the right kind of structures in place,” Masum said.
He said a move towards more regulation won’t make Bitcoin and other digital currencies won’t lose their appeal since some investors view them as an international currency that is not tied to a particular country.
First Block Capital is registered as an investment fund manager and an exempt market dealer in Ontario, with the BCSC as its principal regulator.
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