BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, plans to cut its global workforce in the coming days, according to the latest report. This move comes as the company waits to receive positive news from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).
BlackRock is among a number of asset management firms seeking to offer spot btc ETFs, an investment product that tracks the price of the world's largest digital asset, bitcoin, in the United States.
BlackRock expects bitcoin ETF to be approved on Wednesday: report
Saturday, January 6 bitcoin-etf-approval” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>FOX Business reported that BlackRock intends to lay off about 600 employees (about 3% of its current workforce) as part of routine internal changes. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the media outlet revealed that the trillion-dollar asset manager carried out a similar round of layoffs in 2023 based on performance metrics.
The timing of this staff layoff is especially interesting as BlackRock expects its bitcoin spot ETF offering to receive approval next Wednesday, January 10. Although the SEC deadline for the company's bitcoin ETF is not until January 15, the expectation is that the agency will greenlight all pending applications on January 10, the deadline to approve or reject the ARK 21Shares btc ETF.
This wave of optimism comes after roughly a dozen bitcoin spot ETF applicants, including BlackRock, filed 19b-4 amendment forms with the SEC on Friday, January 5. Other asset managers that filed amendment forms include Grayscale, Valkyrie, ARK 21shares, Hashdex, Bitwise, Invesco Galaxy, Fidelity, VanEck, WisdomTree and Franklin Templeton.
While 19b-4 filings are one of the last defining steps in the SEC approval process for an exchange-traded fund, S-1 filings still must be completed and supported for exchanges in the United States to begin trading. ETF crypto products. Fortunately, several experts believe that the final S-1 filings will arrive and be accepted next week.
Bloomberg Analyst Reduces Chances of bitcoin ETF Failure to 5%
Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart have revised their bitcoin/bloomberg-spot-bitcoin-etf/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>previous prediction for the approval of a bitcoin spot ETF in the United States. In a new post on
Bloomberg researchers believe that the only way the SEC can deny the new crypto product is by inventing new reasons or completely ignoring court rulings. Additionally, Balchunas and Seyffart mentioned that, although highly unlikely, the US presidency could stop the approval of the bitcoin ETF.
bitcoin price breaks above $44,000 on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
