The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday (Wednesday) approved the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application of 11 firms in one go. Now, spot Bitcoin ETFs will be listed on the US stock exchanges starting today (Thursday) and can be traded from a general brokerage account.
To approve the Bitcoin ETF, the SEC needed to approve both the S-1 (or S-3) and 19b-4 forms of the issuers, which include ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Valkyrie, BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex, and Franklin Templeton.
With the rule change, the Bitcoin ETF issuers can list their products on three American exchanges: NYSE Arca, Nasdaq, and Cboe BZX. These exchanges can list a Bitcoin ETF as soon as today.
Before the approval, the applicants needed to submit amended S-1 applications, revealing fees for the product and other minute details.
“After careful review, the Commission finds that the Proposals are consistent with the Exchange Act and rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange,” the official filing by the SEC noted.
Today, a new chapter unfolds. The approval of Bitcoin ETF’s ushers in a new era.
Bitcoin cements its role as a universally recognized financial asset across global financial systems. More than that, it shines even brighter as a beacon of change, with the power to sculpt a new…— Antoni Trenchev (@AntoniNexo) January 10, 2024
First Listing on Thursday
Bitwise, a crypto index and fund manager in the US, has already announced that it intends to list its Bitwise Bitcoin ETF today, which will be traded on NYSE Arca under the ticker BITB. Although it will have a management fee of 0.2 percent, it will not charge any fees in the first six months until the asset under management reaches $1 billion.
“We expect significant demand for bitcoin ETFs like BITB,” said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley.
Other approved Bitcoin issuers, many of which are also going to list and trade their products from today, are also keeping the fee competitive. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, will charge 0.2 percent fees until the fund reaches $5 billion AUM. Both Ark 21Shares and VanEck will be charging 0.25 percent in fees. Like Bitwise, Ark 21Shares will also wave all fees for the first six months until the fund reaches an AUM of $1 billion.
Meanwhile, Grayscale stands apart as it plans to levy 1.5 percent in fees to Bitcoin ETF investors, the highest among all the approved…
