A number of asset managers believe the SEC will be more accommodating to Bitcoin ETFs related to futures contracts than it will be to Bitcoin ETFs focused on the spot market.
Valkyrie Digital Assets, an alternative financial services organisation, has become the latest company to register for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would provide indirect exposure to bitcoin through cash-settled futures contracts, according to CNBC.
According to a draught prospectus dated August 11, the Bitcoin futures contracts will be purchased through a Cayman Islands-based subsidiary that is completely controlled by the fund and will be traded on exchanges that are registered with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
According to the prospectus, the fund will initially invest exclusively in Bitcoin futures contracts that are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), with the ETF aiming to have a total notional value of its underlying futures contracts that is “as close to 100 percent of the fund’s net assets as possible.”
A spot Bitcoin ETF under the Securities Act (1933) was also filed by Valkyrie earlier this year, but the new filing comes just a week after SEC chairman Gary Gensler indicated that he might be open to approving exchange-traded products that are exposed to regulated Bitcoin futures contracts under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
According to Gensler, when paired with other federal securities regulations, the ’40 Act provides significant investor protection.
“Given these important protections, I look forward to the staff’s review of such filings, particularly if those are limited to these CME-traded Bitcoin futures.”
Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, noted that Valkyrie is now the fourth asset manager to submit filings for an ETF tied to Bitcoin futures under the 1940 Company Act since Gensler’s speech, following ProShares, Invesco, and VanEck. Valkyrie is the first asset manager to submit filings for an ETF tied to Bitcoin futures under the 1940 Company Act since Gensler’s speech.
Balchunas speculated that the SEC might issue a decision on the funds as early as November, based on Gensler’s recent remarks.
This is the 4th bitcoin futures ETF filed under the crucial (for Gensler) 1940 Act, joins Proshares, VanEck and Invesco. It’s poss these are approved as early as Nov this year but I’ve had football pulled away too many times to say it’s definite.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 11, 2021