Asset managers BlackRock, Valkyrie and Van Eck submitted amended S-1 forms to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 29, the final day for the SEC to consider them in January 2024. The forms are revisions of their previous applications to create Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Van Eck states in its revised application, “Financial firms that are authorized to purchase or redeem Shares with the Trust (known as ‘Authorized Participants’ or ‘APs’) will deliver only cash to create Shares and will receive only cash when redeeming Shares.” This is in keeping with the preference of the SEC.
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BlackRock's updated filing named Jane Street and JPMorgan Securities as “authorized participants” in its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF application. BlackRock has already specified that it will use a cash-only model. It was the first user to settle a trade on JPMorgan’s Tokenized Collateral Network service on Oct. 11.
BlackRock first filed for a spot BTC ETF in June, and Valkyrie filed a week later. BlackRock representatives held meetings at the SEC twice during December. Alternative asset manager Valkyrie was in at least one meeting there this month.
Commenting on the BlackRock amendment, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said, “Looks [like] we have our first horse [...] at the starting gate,” possibly referring to the asset manager’s chances of being granted SEC approval.
BlackRock just dropped its updated S-1 and it DOES name the APs: Jane Street and JPMorgan (which is kinda ironic). Looks we have our first horse that at the starting gate. pic.twitter.com/H3UmaesygJ
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 29, 2023
Earlier this week, Balchunas said he expects the SEC to decide on the outstanding spot Bitcoin ETF filings by Jan. 10, 2024. If approved, trading would likely commence shortly thereafter, he said.
Valkyrie also appointed authorized participants in its updated S-1, selecting Jane Street Capital and Cantor Fitzgerald. In addition, StoneX Financial will serve as its lead market maker.
BlackRock, Van Eck, Grayscale, Bitwise, WisdomTree, Invesco, Galaxy, Fidelity, ARK Invest, Valkyrie, Franklin, Hashdex, Global X ETFs and Pando Asset have all submitted S-1 applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
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