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The news helped send Cronos shares up as much as 11 per cent to US$9.83 on Monday. The stock had fallen 7.3 pe rcent this year through Friday’s close.

For Cronos, listing in the U.S. could open the doors to significant capital. It will also clear up confusion surrounding legal investment, Gorenstein said. About one of every three calls and discussions he’s had with American investors has focused on whether they can legally invest in the Canadian entity.

“A lot of U.S. investors still are unsure about the legality: There’s not a lot of awareness about the fact that it’s federally legal in Canada versus the U.S.,” he said. “By listing on Nasdaq, it will open up the opportunities for a lot of U.S. investors that otherwise were unsure — even on the institutional level.”

Clouds Over Industry

The confusion isn’t without cause. Cannabis is still federally illegal in the U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January rescinded the Obama-era protections that allowed state-legal industries to thrive.

Still, that illegality doesn’t prevent U.S. investors from putting money into foreign companies that operate legally in their respective countries, Gorenstein said.

Cronos was “laser-focused” on making sure it was absolutely ready to conform to the U.S. SEC standards before filing its application to list on Nasdaq. That made the process relatively smooth.

“It was an exercise in checking everything we do and looking in the mirror and asking are there any gaps, because if we’re used as an example for other cannabis companies, we want to make sure that we’re setting the right example,” Gorenstein said.