Confirmed: $10 Trillion Asset Manager BlackRock Takes Leap into Crypto, Files for Spot Bitcoin ETF with SEC
Investment giant BlackRock has filed for a spot bitcoin ETF, a product that is yet to get the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Thursday, the firm filed an application with the SEC to launch the iShares Bitcoin Trust, which is intended to allow investors to get direct exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency in a secure way.
“The Shares are intended to constitute a simple means of making an investment similar to an investment in bitcoin rather than by acquiring, holding and trading bitcoin directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or via a digital asset exchange,” the filing said.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust will use Coinbase Custody as its custodian.
The new iShares Bitcoin Trust will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange and pricing will be calculated daily based on the CF CME Bitcoin Reference Rate, which "aggregates the notional value of Bitcoin trading across major Bitcoin spot exchanges."
BlackRock is the world’s largest money manager, with $9.1 trillion of assets under management at the end of the first quarter of the year.
BlackRock's move to file for a spot bitcoin ETF comes as the SEC has been reluctant to allow the launch of such a product in the US.
The commission has long claimed that spot bitcoin is not safe enough to be offered to retail investors, although funds based on Bitcoin futures are allowed.
Back in March, the agency denied a request for VanEck to offer a bitcoin ETF, saying that the Cboe division that applied to list the fund had not met requirements that it be “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” and “to protect investors and the public interest” because the underlying spot bitcoin market is too opaque.
Some experts have noted that while the
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