BlackRock’s application to offer a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been placed on the official record of the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of the proposed rule change process. The move, recorded late Thursday, advances the most publicized Bitcoin-related proposal to the SEC to date.
The filing for the iShares Bitcoin Trust was submitted almost a month ago, sparking a new wave of optimism in the crypto market, as well as more spot Bitcoin ETF filings from a number of other prominent players, including the likes of Invesco, Wisdom Tree, and Bitwise , and Fidelity – whose previous application was rejected along with those of other applicants last year.
When the SEC said last month that BlackRock’s filing was missing, the company filed a revised filing, adding a “surveillance sharing” clause that would include crypto exchange Coinbase’s monitoring and reporting of possible illegal activity.
Valkyrie soon updated its application with the same provision, as did Fidelity and ARK Invest.
A spot bitcoin ETF would track the value of bitcoin without having to directly hold the asset. It would also be tradable on a traditional exchange.
While a bitcoin ETF based on bitcoin futures launched with great fanfare earlier this year, a spot ETF — tied to the cryptocurrency’s current price — has been dubbed the “holy grail” for the industry. The SEC’s continued resistance to approval in recent years has been described as “a complete disaster.”
Now that BlackRock’s filing is on the SEC’s official calendar, it will be posted to the federal register, triggering a 21-day public comment period.
Meanwhile, four more applications were filed on Friday related to the Cboe BZX Exchange, which became the first company to apply for a Bitcoin ETF in March 2021. These include Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust, VanEck Bitcoin Trust and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, which also has a three-week comment period.