BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, submitted an amended prospectus for its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday. Notable changes in BlackRock’s new filing include acknowledgment of the competition in the race for Bitcoin ETF approval, as well as detailed explanations on the product’s pricing and reporting mechanisms. This filing follows BlackRock’s original application from June 15, 2023, as well as a refiling in July that included a surveillance sharing agreement with its custodian Coinbase and Nasdaq.
The new filing reads that “There can be no assurance that the Trust will achieve initial market acceptance and scale due to competition.” This is due to the fact that there are at least seven other applicants in the race for Bitcoin ETF approval, most notably the largest Bitcoin trust fund, Grayscale. Grayscale recently won a key court case against the SEC, and the agency opted out of challenging the court’s ruling last week.
The amended filing also provides specific details about the pricing of the ETF in the periodic financial statements filed by BlackRock, including accounting specifications such as “Level 1 input according to ASC Topic 820.” Additionally, the filing provides a detailed analysis with examples for the pricing of its CF benchmark index which aggregates Bitcoin’s price across several exchanges and will form the basis of BlackRock’s ETF. BlackRock is the third applicant to file an amended spot Bitcoin filing within a week following Ark Invest and Fidelity. Some experts have suggested this is a “good sign” and “solid progress” toward an approval.
Edited by Liam Kelly.
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You can read more about this topic here: Decrypt: BlackRock Amends Bitcoin ETF Prospectus, Acknowledges Fierce Competition
