The race to launch a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States is heating up, with two issuers submitting new filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission for products tied to the cryptocurrency.
Asset management firm WisdomTree submitted a filing for the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust late on Tuesday for a fund that would trade on Cboe. $1.4 trillion asset manager Invesco also submitted an application for its own spot bitcoin ETF, dubbed the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF. Both firms have attempted to launch a bitcoin ETF in the past — previously having their efforts squashed by the SEC.
Invesco first filed for a spot bitcoin ETF with Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital in 2021. WisdomTree also submitted a previous filing in 2021.
Quickly following BlackRock
The two firms now join BlackRock, which surprised the market with its filing for a spot bitcoin ETF on June 15.
Thus far, the SEC has only approved bitcoin ETFs that are tied to U.S.-traded futures and has cited the lack of proper cross-exchange market surveillance as one reason why it won’t approve a bitcoin spot ETF.
In its filing, Invesco said that the U.S. is an exception among major markets in not having a vehicle for spot exposure, noting “investors in many other countries, including Canada and Brazil, are able to use more traditional exchange list and traded products … to gain exposure to bitcoin.”
To mollify concerns of market manipulation, Cboe has entered into a “surveillance-sharing” relationship with a spot bitcoin platform. BlackRock has a similar arrangement with Nasdaq for its ETF, as CoinDesk first reported.
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