As the deadline looms for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to greenlight or reject the groundbreaking spot bitcoin ETF, companies are wrapping up their regulatory paperwork, fine-tuning their filings after multiple rounds of edits.
According to Reuters, the SEC informed issuers—based on confidential sources—that December 29th marked the final opportunity to tweak their spot bitcoin S-1 applications for ETFs. Heavyweights like BlackRock, Invesco, Ark, Grayscale, and others seized the chance, filing amendments on that Friday. Notably, Fidelity and WisdomTree named Jane Street as the fund’s broker dealer, while Invesco designated JPMorgan and Virtu as their authorized participants.
Those who submitted fresh ETF amendments on December 29th stand a good chance of being among the first wave of launches, potentially gaining significant advantages as early movers in this novel product space.
Despite a decade-long competition among issuers to introduce a spot bitcoin ETF, the SEC only recently started collaborating seriously with companies to push filings toward approval. This shift came after Grayscale secured a landmark victory against the SEC in late August, when a U.S. appeals court ruled against the regulator’s obstruction of the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF.
This legal decision essentially forced the SEC’s hand and cleared the way for the arrival of ETFs linked to physically backed bitcoin.
The Race for Spot Bitcoin ETF Bitwise Asset Management, along with Wall Street giants like BlackRock, is striving to attract crypto investors, sparking an unprecedented marketing battle over ETFs.
Bitwise took the lead by launching their quirky “Most Interesting Man” commercial earlier this month. Hashdex and VanEck have also joined the fray with their own TV ads.
“It’s all about marketing now, some might even say it’s a battle,” remarked Cathie Wood, head of ARK, to etf.com in November.
Competition will also hinge on fees. Invesco, for instance, plans to waive the fund’s fee for the first six months and beyond reaching $5 billion in assets. Fidelity currently boasts the lowest listed fee at 0.39%, but not all issuers have disclosed their fee structures in their filings.
