BlackRock reapplies to launch a spot bitcoin ETF

Fidelity, Invesco, WisdomTree, 21Shares, and VanEck previously submitted updated documents for similar products

04.07.2023 - 07:25

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What’s new? The US stock exchange Nasdaq has reapplied for the launch of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) from major investment firm BlackRock, listing Coinbase as a partner in a surveillance-sharing agreement. This is due to the fact that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) previously criticized the filed documents for the lack of this clause. The regulator explained that the surveillance should help protect the market from manipulation.

Updated filing

What else is known? According to the new filing, Nasdaq has entered into a surveillance-sharing agreement with Coinbase. So, as of June 28, about 56% of BTC dollar purchases in the United States were made on Coinbase. The total volume of such transactions on all US platforms since the beginning of the year was $129 billion.

BlackRock’s initial application for a bitcoin ETF included a requirement for a surveillance-sharing agreement but did not specify which exchange would serve as a partner in the deal.

Earlier, for the same reason, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) re-filed spot bitcoin ETFs from Fidelity, Invesco, WisdomTree, 21Shares, and VanEck. Cboe has also selected Coinbase as a partner in a surveillance-sharing agreement. The applications will take 45 to 240 days from the time the Commission publishes them in the federal register.

Analysts at Bernstein said that the SEC will not be able to maintain a negative stance on spot bitcoin-ETFs for long, and the likelihood of approving such products is quite high.

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