Bitcoin cleared the $30,000 level on Wednesday, according to Coinmarketcap, as a flurry of asset management firms file for the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. — again.
But the biggest names in mutual funds are lining up this time.
Last week BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm with $10 trillion in assets under management, filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
According to the filing, Coinbase Custody Trust Company will be the custodian of the Bitcoins while the Bank of Mellon New York will hold the fund's fiat. Other companies have been quick to follow.
On Wednesday, WisdomTree, which manages $87 billion in assets, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust on the CBOE BZX Exchange. If approved, the fund will trade under the ticker "BTCW." To capture the spot price, the CF Benchmarks index will be used to update the price of Bitcoin every 15 seconds.
This is WisdomTree's third filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF, following earlier attempts in 2021 and 2022. The SEC has rejected all applications so far.
Meanwhile Invesco, a fund manager with $1.5 trillion in assets under management, reactivated its application for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Cathie Wood, Grayscale Seek Spot Bitcoin ETF
Several others have been bidding for a spot ETF as well. That includes Cathie Wood's ARK Invest and Grayscale.
Grayscale has been trying get SEC approval to turn Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a Bitcoin spot ETF. GBTC trades at a discount to its net asset value. And if converted to a spot ETF, the discount would disappear, increasing investors' returns. According to Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein, that could be a "couple billion dollars. "
GBTC broke out past a buy point of 16.95 this week amid the recent spike in filings, according to IBD MarketSmith.
In May, CBOE Global Markets joined Wood to file the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF. This was the latest of many attempts by both the CBOE and Cathie Wood's firm. The SEC has rejected these filings so far.
A key catalyst this time is a proposed rule in January that would change the definition of an exchange to include any platform "that makes available for trading any type of security." That could extend to cryptocurrencies. Once exchanges become compliant, a spot Bitcoin ETF may pass the SEC's requirements.
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