Major Bitcoin ETF Applicants File Amendments

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) received amended S-1 forms from asset managers BlackRock, Valkyrie, and Van Eck on December 29, the last day for the SEC to review them before January 20, 24.

These are updated versions of their earlier applications to establish exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Bitcoin.

In line with the SEC's preference, Van Eck has amended its application to state that "financial firms that are authorized to purchase or redeem Shares with the Trust (known as 'Authorized Participants' or 'APs') will deliver only cash to create Shares and will receive only cash when redeeming Shares."

Jane Street and JPMorgan Securities were identified as "authorized participants" in BlackRock's revised application for a proposed spot Bitcoin ETF. BlackRock has made it clear that it will only accept cash.

On October 11, it was the initial user to complete a trade using JPMorgan's Tokenized Collateral Network service.

A week after BlackRock's initial June filing, Valkyrie also submitted a spot BTC ETF application. In December, BlackRock representatives attended two meetings at the SEC.

Valkyrie, the manager of alternative assets, attended at least one meeting there this month.

"Looks [like] we have our first horse [...] at the starting gate," Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas remarked in response to the BlackRock amendment, presumably alluding to the asset manager's prospects of receiving SEC approval.

Balchunas stated earlier this week that he anticipates the SEC making a decision by January 10, 2024, regarding the outstanding spot Bitcoin ETF filings. He said that if approved, trading would probably start soon after.

In its revised S-1, Valkyrie appointed authorized participants as well; Cantor Fitzgerald and Jane Street Capital were chosen. Furthermore, StoneX Financial will function as the primary market maker for it.

S-1 applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs have been filed by BlackRock, Van Eck, Grayscale, Bitwise, WisdomTree, Invesco, Galaxy, Fidelity, ARK Invest, Valkyrie, Franklin, Hashdex, Global X ETFs, and Pando Asset.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-van-eck-file-last-minute-btc-etf-amendments

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1838028/000093041323002749/c106800_s1a.htm

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1980994/000143774923035559/bit20231227_s1a.htm

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1841175/000199937123001312/valkyrie-s1a_122923.htm

https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1739657194432336045