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One month countdown?! A review of the latest developments in 13 proposed physical Bitcoin ETFs.

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Inventory of the latest developments in 13 proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs, will the SEC make a decision next month?

Original Title: "Lucky 13? Where spot bitcoin ETF proposals stand ahead of judgment day"

Original Source: Blockworks

Original Compilation: Mary Liu from BitpushNews

Industry insiders are confident and eagerly await the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make a decision on the Bitcoin ETF next month. Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten predicted in an interview with Bloomberg that the approval window may have narrowed down to January 8th, 9th, or 10th, 2024.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart compiled a list showing that there are currently 13 proposed Bitcoin ETFs submitted to the SEC.

This article will summarize the latest developments of these 13 proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs.

灰度

translates to

Gray Scale

in English.According to industry observers, Grayscale Investments won a court battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August. This event has made people more optimistic about the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF.

At the time, the judge ruled that the regulatory agency refused to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Fund (GBTC) into an ETF, but allowed the launch of an ETF based on Bitcoin futures, which was "arbitrary and capricious." The SEC chose not to challenge this ruling.

Grayscale indicates that GBTC is ready to operate as an ETF after regulatory approval, and notes that it will "work quickly with the SEC".

Grayscale stated in their blog post on December 1st that although the timeline for the approval of a Bitcoin ETF in spot markets is "essentially uncertain", the company believes that this is "only a matter of time, not a matter of if".

The Chief Legal Officer, Craig Salm, stated in a post that if Grayscale obtains approval from the SEC, the company plans to immediately transfer GBTC from the OTCQX market to NYSE Arca.

The company stated that the conversion to an ETF, along with the concurrent issuance and redemption, will essentially eliminate any discounts or premiums historically held by the stock and allow the trust to more closely track the value of BTC.

Ark Invest/21Shares

People who follow the Bitcoin ETF competition should be familiar with their names. Ark Invest and 21Shares collaborated for the first time in 2021 to propose a proposal for a spot Bitcoin fund.

The application was rejected in March 2022 and again in February 2023. The latest reapplication was in April, ahead of asset management giant BlackRock and other companies.

It is expected that the SEC will make a ruling on the latest submitted documents on January 10th. Some industry observers believe that on that day, the regulatory agency will also decide the fate of similar proposals from other issuers.

Ark CEO Cathie Wood said, "We do believe that while we are first in line, many companies will be approved simultaneously and depending on how they submit their applications, there could be more than six approvals at once."

The two parties updated their Bitcoin ETF application for the third time on November 20th, stating that the underwriting fee is 0.80% of the Bitcoin held by the trust. The fund's shares will be traded on the Cboe BZK exchange with the stock code ARKB.

BlackRock

BlackRock is a financial giant that manages approximately $9 trillion in assets. The company joined the race for a spot Bitcoin ETF in June, prompting many other companies to raise their bids for such products.

BlackRock's proposed iShares Bitcoin Trust will adopt the IBTC ticker symbol and trade on Nasdaq.

Last month, the company met with officials from the Trading and Markets division of the US Securities and Exchange Commission multiple times. The meeting notice on November 20th outlined the differences between physical and cash redemption models.

Different ETF authorized participants use two main methods to participate in the creation and redemption of stocks: physical or cash transactions.

Through physical trading, 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 instead of securities.

On November 28th (the day of another meeting), a document stated that "the US Securities and Exchange Commission has some unresolved issues with physical models."

BlackRock's latest proposal amendment submitted on Monday states that the trust fund only accepts authorized participants and market makers with implemented compliance plans for physical creations and redemptions requests.

The updated file also includes 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. Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (previously named Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust Fund) will trade on NYSE Arca with the stock code BITB.