The first publicly traded bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in North America came out swinging on Thursday, its first day of trading.

About $165 million worth of shares of the newly minted ETF changed investor hands in less than a day, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The fund, which is managed by Canada-based Purpose Investments, has experienced a flurry of demand where trade volumes hit well above the country's typical day one ETF threshold, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart.

A bitcoin ETF in the U.S. has been highly prized by the likes of VanEck and Valkyrie but is yet to make its debut stateside due to concerns from regulators over the nascent asset class' volatility and industry manipulation.

See also: State of Crypto: Will 2021 Finally Be the Year of the Bitcoin ETF?

Multiple close-ended bitcoin funds have been listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, such as the ones listed by Canadian investment manager 3iQ. However, they differ from an ETF.

The fund seeks to replicate the performance of the price of the bellwether cryptocurrency while units of its shares are currently changing hands for around CAD$10.17 (US$8.00).

UPDATE (Feb. 19, 17:55 UTC): Restores inadvertently dropped attribution.