In the past two weeks, there have been a series of exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications from various traditional finance giants in the United States.
The madness began after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with over $9 trillion in assets under management, filed a spot Bitcoin ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 15.
The Bitcoin Spot ETF Craze
BlackRock’s move has spurred many Bitcoin ETF aspirants to file new applications despite repeated rejections from the SEC in the past. The development also led to a BTC rally that caused the leading cryptocurrency asset to surge past $30k and chart a peak in several months.
An ETF is an investment vehicle that tracks the value of an underlying asset. A Bitcoin ETF would expose investors to cryptocurrency without the burden of actually buying and holding the digital asset. It also relieves them of the stress of understanding the intricacies of exchanging digital currencies, private keys, and cryptocurrency wallets.
The spot Bitcoin ETF tracks the price of BTC directly, while the Bitcoin futures ETF follows the futures price of the asset.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected dozens of Bitcoin ETFs in the past, arguing that the proposals did not meet anti-fraud and investor protection standards. The regulator also mentioned the potential for market manipulation of the underlying crypto asset.
However, the BlackRock application has renewed the hopes of many traditional companies in the United States
US companies that have applied for a Bitcoin instant ETF
Shortly after BlackRock filed for the ETF, which named Coinbase Custody as custodian for crypto and BNY Mellon as custodian for cash, New York-based asset manager WisdomTree resubmitted its filing for approval on June 20. 2022; Hence, this is the company’s third attempt.
Investment management firm Invesco also introduced a second Bitcoin ETF on the same day as WisdomTree. The company and Galaxy Digital initially filed a joint application in September 2021.
Soon after, financial services company Valkyrie rejoined the queue, placing an order for the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund on June 21. The company’s initial filing was rejected at Christmas 2021.
Subsequently, VanEck Investment Manager was reinstated on June 22 after two rejections in 2021 and March 2023.
On June 29, Fidelity Digital Assets tried again by filing a spot Bitcoin ETF after adjustments to make the document match BlackRock’s filing.
Meanwhile, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest and Switzerland-based ETF provider 21Shares Presenter Their third order is on April 25th to launch the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.
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