Original title: Lucky 13? Where spot bitcoin ETF proposals stand ahead of judgment day
Original source: Blockworks
Original text compiled by: BitpushNews Mary Liu
Industry players are full of confidence and are waiting for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make an approval decision on spot Bitcoin ETFs next month. Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten predicted in an interview with Bloomberg that the approval window may have narrowed to January 8, 9 or 10, 2024.
A list compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart shows that there are currently 13 proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs filed with the SEC.
This article will summarize the latest progress of these 13 spot Bitcoin ETF proposals.
Grayscale
Grayscale Investments won a court victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August, prompting greater optimism about approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, according to industry observers.
At the time, a judge ruled that the regulators refusal to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF but allowed the launch of an ETF based on Bitcoin futures was arbitrary and capricious. The SEC chose not to challenge the ruling.
Grayscale said GBTC is ready to operate as an ETF upon regulatory approval, noting that it will work expeditiously with the SEC.
Grayscale noted in a Dec. 1 blog post that while the timeline for spot Bitcoin ETF approval is “inherently uncertain,” the company believes it is “a matter of when, not if.”
Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm said in the post that if Grayscale receives SEC approval, the company plans to immediately transfer GBTC from the OTCQX market to NYSE Arca.
The company said the simultaneous issuances and redemptions due to the conversion to an ETF will essentially eliminate any discount or premium the stock has historically held and allow the trust to more closely track the value of BTC.
Ark Invest/21 Shares
Their names should be familiar to those following the Bitcoin ETF race. Ark Invest and 21 Shares first collaborated on a spot Bitcoin fund proposal in 2021.
The application was rejected in March 2022, rejected a second time in February 2023, and the latest re-application was in April, ahead of asset management giant BlackRock and other companies.
The SEC is expected to rule on the latest filing on Jan. 10, a date some industry observers believe will also be when regulators decide the fate of similar proposals from other issuers.
We do think that while we are first in line, many companies will be approved at the same time, and depending on how they submit their applications, there could be more than six applications approved at once, Ark CEO Cathie Wood said.
The two parties updated the Bitcoin ETF application for the third time on November 20, stating that the sponsorship fee would be 0.80% of the Bitcoin held by the trust. Shares of the fund will trade on the Cboe BZK exchange under the ticker ARKB.
BlackRock
BlackRock is a financial giant with approximately $9 trillion in assets under management. The company joined the spot Bitcoin ETF race in June, prompting many other firms to re-raise their bids for such products.
BlackRock’s proposed iShares Bitcoin Trust would adopt the IBTC ticker and trade on Nasdaq.
The company met several times last month with officials from the Securities and Exchange Commissions Division of Trading and Markets. Its Nov. 20 meeting announcement outlined the differences between in-kind and cash redemption models.
Authorized participants in different ETFs participate in the creation and redemption of shares using two main methods: physical or cash transactions.
Through physical transactions, AP exchanges ETF shares for a corresponding basket of securities that reflects the ETF holdings. For cash transactions, AP creates or redeems shares in exchange for cash rather than securities.
A filing from Nov. 28, the day of another meeting, noted that the SEC has certain unresolved issues with the physical model.
The latest proposal amendment filed by BlackRock on Monday states that the trust will only accept physical creation and redemption requests from authorized participants and market makers that have implemented compliance programs.
The updated filing also adds information about the company raising $100,000 in seed funding for the fund.
Bitwise
Bitwise’s latest S-1 amendment was released on the same day as BlackRock’s. The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (previously proposed to be named the Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust Fund) will trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker BITB.
Both the SEC and these issuers are working to resolve the issues, and these filings are likely the result of multiple conversations and hours of work between the two parties, Bloomberg analysts said.
Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, pointed to conversations between issuers and the SEC as one reason why “this time does feel different than a few months ago.”
Like other companies, Bitwise has been looking to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF for years.
The company submitted a more than 100-page white paper in October 2021. This shows that the CME Bitcoin futures market is ahead of the spot market and the unregulated Bitcoin futures market. It published additional research suggesting that the new Bitcoin ETP is unlikely to have a major impact on CME Bitcoin futures market prices.
Bitwises September filing addressed eight disagreements raised by the SEC about research included in the companys previous filing.
VanEck
VanEck updated the VanEck Bitcoin Trust’s Form S-1 on Friday, marking its fifth revision. The disclosure states that the fund’s stock symbol is HODL.
HODL will trade on Cboe. The latest disclosure did not disclose how much the proposed product would cost.
VanEck hired Gemini Trust Company as the ETF’s Bitcoin custodian — unlike most companies that choose Coinbase as their custody partner.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said in June that the SEC should immediately approve all spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Sigel and VanEck investment analyst Patrick Bush wrote Thursday that they expect such products to be approved in the first quarter. They estimate that inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs will be around $1 billion in the first few days, reaching $2.4 billion in the first quarter.
WisdomTree
WisdomTree reapplied for a spot Bitcoin ETF in June, following BlackRock’s filing.
The company, which has about $98 billion in assets under management, said in the disclosure: The Bitcoin market has matured with operating efficiencies and scale similar in material respects to mature global equity, fixed income and commodities markets.
WisdomTree revised its Bitcoin ETF application on November 16. Shares of the fund will trade on the Cboe BZK exchange under the ticker symbol BTCW.
“There does seem to be some exciting momentum emerging, [and] we remain very focused on spot Bitcoin ETFs,” Will Peck, head of digital assets at WisdomTree, said on the company’s October earnings call. “We think it’s an American legacy. We look forward to continuing to work with regulators on the best way to execute this asset class in the channel.
Invesco
Invesco also followed in the footsteps of BlackRock and re-filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF in June. The proposed ETF will be listed on the Cboe BZX exchange. The application was filed in partnership with Galaxy Digital and mirrors a 2021 Bitcoin ETF application submitted by the pair.
The company made changes to its application earlier this fall, indicating it would continue conversations with regulators as they continue to consider decisions.
According to the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporations listing, the ticker symbol is BTCO.
Fidelity
Fidelity joins the current Bitcoin ETF spot race as a refiler, similar to Invesco and Ark. One of the reasons the proposed Bitcoin ETF stands out is its custodian: Fidelity Digital Assets Services. Unlike some competitors, it does not use Coinbase.
Fidelity Digital Assets has been providing custody and trade execution services since 2018, making it an obvious choice for the companys in-house custody.
The proposal was first submitted in late June, meaning it also comes on the heels of BlackRock. As early as 2021, Fidelity applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF, but it was blocked by the SEC in January last year.
According to the DTCC listing, the fund will trade under the symbol FBTC. Like Invesco, it will be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie followed BlackRock in filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF in late June (days before Fidelity).
The company also made several changes to its proposal. Unlike some other applicants, Valkyrie appears to be interested in its proposed ticker symbol BRRR – a reference to “money printing press.”
The ETF will be listed on Nasdaq alongside BlackRocks proposed ETF. These two funds are the only ones listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Unsurprisingly, Coinbase is listed as the proposed custodian of the fund.
The SEC last delayed Valkyries filing at the end of September, and the next deadline is after Seyffarts proposed golden window.
Valkyrie Chief Investment Officer Steven McClurg said in an interview with Schwab Network that he believes the price of Bitcoin (either due to the halving or the potential launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF) could reach as high as $100,000 next year.
Global X
Another returner, Global X applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF in August after initially applying for a spot Bitcoin ETF in 2021.
Like other companies, it plans to list on the Cboe exchange, with Coinbase acting as custodian. The initial filing with the SEC listed Coinbase as a surveillance sharing partner, a move seen as appeasing regulators.
The filing was delayed back in November, and unsurprisingly the SEC said it needed more time to consider it.
Prior to the postponement, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas posted on , these discussions are a good sign.
Hashdex
Hashdex applied to hold spot Bitcoin in its Bitcoin Futures ETF in late August. The application updates the name to Hashdex Bitcoin ETF “to reflect the fund’s updated investment strategy.”
It is one of the few companies that does not rely on Coinbase as a monitoring sharing partner. Instead, it chose to use CME Group’s physical market exchange to “acquire and settle” Bitcoin. It will also hold spot Bitcoin, Bitcoin futures contracts, and cash and cash equivalents. If the fund is converted, it will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange along with Grayscale.
The updated fund will trade under its futures symbol DEFI.
franklin templeton
Financial services giant Franklin Templeton also joined the spot Bitcoin ETF race in September. It seeks to list its funds on the Cboe BZX exchange. Like most other applicants, the company chose Coinbase as its custodian.
The comment period for the proposed Bitcoin ETF began in late November, leading some to believe that the SECs move to start soliciting comments earlier increases the likelihood that the Bitcoin ETF will be approved in early January.
In its original proposal, Franklin Templeton wrote that the ETF would be a series within the Franklin Templeton Digital Holdings Trust.
Pando Asset Management
The latest entrant in the spot Bitcoin ETF race, Pando submitted its proposal on November 29. If approved by the SEC, the ETF will list on Cboe – the exchange chosen by eight of the 13 companies that applied.
The company formally filed a 19B-4 earlier this week, officially entering the ETF competition.
The Swiss asset manager has several crypto products traded on the six major Swiss exchanges, but this will be its first crypto ETF in the United States.
Coinbase will serve as custodian for the fund, and Pando appointed BNY Mellon as trust administrator. Due to the late filing date, it is unclear whether Pando, if approved, can launch an ETF at the same time as BlackRock or Ark.
