BlackRock’s ETF Success Rate With the SEC Is 575 to 1, What About its Bitcoin Application?

The world’s largest asset manager took a major step into his involvement in the cryptocurrency industry this week by filing for a Bitcoin Spot ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

With so many previous implementations of such a product by other companies having failed before, the community wondered if BlackRock’s attempt seemed doomed from the start. However, the giant’s success rate with the SEC has been unprecedented so far.

History must be repeated, but to what side?

The COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent central bank monetary policies, and BTC price hikes in 2020 and 2021 changed the game in a way that very few brave enough to have imagined before that moment. Many institutions are starting to look more seriously at the cryptocurrency industry, and BTC in particular.

At the time, it was almost expected that a new institution or an old individual investor would announce buying bitcoin on a weekly basis. BlackRock, though reluctant at first, got off the ground with minor investments through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, as well as encouraging comments from some of its executives.

While many institutions pulled back during the 2022 bear market, especially in the wake of the tumultuous crashes of the Terra ecosystem and FTX, BlackRock doubled down on a few initiatives, including a Blockchain ETF in Europe.

Despite this, in June 2023, the giant made its biggest bet on the industry by bidding for a Bitcoin Spot ETF in the US along with Coinbase, which will be the custodian for the funds.

The move had an immediate positive effect on BTC and its price, which jumped by more than $2,000 in the first few days after the filing. The long-term consequences may be more beneficial to the entire industry if the ETF is approved.

according To Eric Balchunas — senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg — the chances are pretty high, at least historically. BlackRock has an impressive success rate when it comes to its ETF applications with SEC – 575 approved versus only one rejected.

Moreover, the commission It said This request for an effectively managed ETF was rejected because it does not require participants to disclose their assets on a daily basis.

What about a US BTC ETF?

While the SEC has given the green light to a few bitcoin futures ETFs, it has rejected countless Spot ETF applications. Indeed, the unending refusal has prompted Grayscale, which is trying to convert its leading BTC product into an exchange-traded fund, to sue the securities regulator.

The agency’s justification has always been the same, claiming that proposed ETFs fail to show how they will prevent market manipulation and fraud.

In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has now tracked down several cryptocurrency and token exchanges, claiming that most of the assets are unregistered securities. However, even its skeptical boss – Gary Gensler – has admitted in the past that bitcoin is a commodity.

In any case, BlackRock’s timing is very interesting, given the SEC’s overall negative attitude toward the industry. Being one of the most influential financial players, it begs the question whether BlackRock knows something we don’t know that will help it continue its impressive success rate or if it will score a second L (OOS).