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 joining the meetings .
Based on court filings, the regulator hosted representatives from BlackRock on December 14 to discuss the proposed rule change that would allow the crypto investment vehicle to be traded 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 discuss their filings, a day after Fidelity representatives appeared before the SEC.
BlackRock met again with the SEC yesterday. This time with Gensler's people/employees https://t.co/cjQ8ChxlBV pic.twitter.com/shDiZPidPe
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) December 15, 2023
In late November, Chairman Gensler's staff also met with the Hashdex team to address concerns about market manipulation and investor protection. In particular, as Cointelegraph has learned, the discussion focused on the use of cash creation and redemption, as well as the acquisition of spot Bitcoin on physical exchanges within the Chicago Mercantile Exchange market.
Several major asset managers are planning to launch spot Bitcoin 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 most applicants' final deadlines expire.
Once approved, the largest cryptocurrency will begin trading on Wall Street's major exchanges, bringing Bitcoin to a broader investor audience backed by the world's most influential investment firms. In the event of a rejection, the investment managers will likely appeal the ruling, which will extend the waiting period even further.
A spot Bitcoin ETF directly tracks the real-time market price of Bitcoin and holds actual Bitcoin. Its value reflects the current price of the BTC in its possession. Conversely, a futures Bitcoin 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 futures Bitcoin ETF in 2021.
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