Spot Bitcoin ETF

BlackRock revises spot Bitcoin ETF to enable easier access for banks

BlackRock said the new ETF model offers “superior resistance to market manipulation” — something the SEC has long used as a reason to reject spot Bitcoin ETFs.

BlackRock has revised its spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application to make it easier for Wall Street banks to participate by creating new shares in the fund with cash rather than just crypto.

The new in-kind redemption “prepay” model will allow banking giants such as JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs to act as authorized participants for the fund, letting them circumvent restrictions that prevent them from holding Bitcoin or crypto directly on their balance sheets.

The new model was presented by six members of BlackRock and three from Nasdaq in a Nov. 28 meeting with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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Hashdex tips spot Bitcoin ETFs to trade by Q2, followed by Ethereum

Hashdex’s head of product for the U.S. and Europe says the exact timing for a spot Bitcoin ETF is unclear but predicts it to start by the second quarter of 2024.

Hashdex, one of the 13 asset managers vying for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, expects to see the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States land by the second quarter of 2024, followed by a spot Ether (ETH) ETF.

“The exact timing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. remains unclear, but in 2023, the narrative around this product switched from a question of ‘if’ to a matter of ‘when,’” said Hashdex’s U.S.

“We believe U.S. investors will have access to a spot Bitcoin ETF by the second quarter of the new year and that a spot Ether ETF is likely to follow.”

Hashdex is one of 13 asset managers with a spot Bitcoin ETF application before the U.S. It has also pitched a hybrid Ether ETF with futures and spot contracts to the regulator.

While Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have pinned 90% odds that spot Bitcoin ETFs will be approved in the days leading up to Jan.

Seyffart noted in November that “there could be weeks or even months between approval and launch.”