The US Securities and Exchange Commission has held a new round of talks with asset managers proposing a bitcoin (btc) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US, this time with officials from Gary Gensler's office participating in the meetings.
According to court documents, the regulator received representatives from BlackRock on December 14 to discuss the proposed rule change that would allow the crypto investment vehicle to trade on major exchanges. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Jayme Seyffart, this is the third meeting between BlackRock and the SEC to review the application.
Meetings between asset managers and the SEC had intensified in recent weeks. On Dec. 8, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton also sat down with regulators to review their applications, a day after Fidelity representatives appeared before the SEC.
BlackRock met again with the SEC yesterday. This time with the Gensler people/staff. https://t.co/cjQ8ChxlBV pic.twitter.com/shDiZPidPe
-James Seyffart (@JSeyff) December 15, 2023
In late November, President Gensler's staff also met with the Hashdex team to address concerns about market manipulation and investor protection. Specifically, the discussion focused on the use of cash creations and redemptions, as well as the acquisition of spot bitcoin from physical exchanges within the Chicago Mercantile Exchange market, Cointelegraph has learned.
Several large asset managers are planning to launch bitcoin spot ETFs, including WisdomTree, BlackRock, Invesco, Fidelity and Grayscale. Over the years, the SEC has rejected similar proposals. Now, the regulator is postponing its next decisions until early January, when the latest deadlines for most applicants will expire.
Upon approval, the largest cryptocurrency will be listed on major Wall Street exchanges, opening bitcoin to a broader audience of investors backed by the world's most influential investment firms. If denied, investment managers will likely appeal the ruling, prolonging the wait even further.
A spot bitcoin ETF directly tracks the market price of bitcoin in real time and holds real bitcoin. Its value reflects the current price of btc under your ownership. In contrast, a bitcoin futures ETF invests in bitcoin futures contracts, which are agreements on the future price of bitcoin, rather than holding the cryptocurrency itself. The SEC approved the first bitcoin futures ETF in 2021.
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