LINING UP: NEW CRYPTOCURRENCY ETFS UNDER REVIEW
Dear clients,
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accepted for review spot bitcoin fund applications from six companies, including BlackRock, marking the first step in the process of deciding whether to approve or disapprove the latest batch of proposals.
The SEC also formally recognised applications by Bitwise, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity and Invesco to create similar spot bitcoin fund ETFs, with those proposals published in the Federal Register on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The SEC had previously rejected dozens of applications to create spot bitcoin ETFs, saying the proposals did not meet fraud and investor protection standards. But Nasdaq, on which BlackRock proposed to list its ETF, said earlier this month that it was going to address those concerns by partnering with Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, to control trading on the underlying bitcoin market.
The first bitcoin futures ETF was approved in October 2021, helping the volatile bitcoin hit an all-time high of $69 000 in November 2021.