The world's largest asset management is still working on its planned bitcoin ETF, with market experts pointing to possible optimistic indicators that such products may be authorized. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website now lists BlackRock's proposed iShares Bitcoin Trust. According to the listing, the prospective fund's ticker is IBTC. According to Bloomberg Intelligence …
The world’s largest asset management is still working on its planned bitcoin ETF, with market experts pointing to possible optimistic indicators that such products may be authorized. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website now lists BlackRock’s proposed iShares Bitcoin Trust. According to the listing, the prospective fund’s ticker is IBTC.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst, IBTC is the first proposed spot bitcoin ETF to be registered on DTCC — a financial market infrastructure behemoth that handles billions of dollars in securities transactions every day. According to the company, National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC), a DTCC subsidiary, has a process for clearing ETFs that includes “the ability to review…the ETF’s portfolio constituents, which is also used to automate the creation and redemption of ETF shares and their subsequent settlement.”
A DTCC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to a BlackRock spokeswoman, the company is unable to respond owing to “filing restrictions.” The product was added to the DTCC website after BlackRock modified its bitcoin ETF proposal on October 18.
The amended S-1 filing, according to Scott Johnsson, an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell, includes a CUSIP for the product – a nine-character identifier required to identify a North American security for the clearing and settlement of trades. The petition also stated that seed creation baskets will be acquired in October “subject to conditions,” but provided no date or quantity.
“Def notable BlackRock is leading charge on these logistics (seeding, ticker, dtcc) that tend to happen just prior to launch,” Balchunas stated on Monday X. “Hard not to view this as them getting signal that approval is certain/imminent.” Others had already modified their bitcoin ETF proposals before BlackRock.
On October 11, Ark Invest and 21Shares amended their bitcoin ETF filing. Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence noted many additions, including assurance that the trust’s assets will not be mixed with corporate or other customer assets. Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark, told CNBC last week that the revision was the result of discussions with the SEC.
The filing modifications are not the only visible movement in the search for a bitcoin ETF. Grayscale filed last week to register shares of its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) under the Securities Act of 1933, marking a new step towards the trust’s eventual conversion into an ETF.
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals formalized its August finding that the SEC’s refusal to convert GBTC to an ETF while authorizing bitcoin futures funds was “arbitrary and capricious.” A Grayscale spokeswoman informed Blockworks that the company “looks forward to continuing to work constructively with the SEC” to convert GBTC to an ETF, and that “we intend to move as expeditiously as possible.”
At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) was at $31,600.
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