BlackRock has added Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and others as Authorized Providers (APs) for its spot Bitcoin ETF.
BlackRock, an American investment management firm, has revised the prospectus for its spot Bitcoin ETF.
Aside from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the firm’s BTC ETF, known as the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), is the largest in the market in terms of Assets Under Management (AUM).
BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF: What’s New?
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, has reported that BlackRock has incorporated a list of prominent Wall Street institutions as Authorized Providers (APs) into the spot Bitcoin ETF prospectus.
According to the screenshot of the amended filing, BlackRock has now included Swiss multinational banking giant UBS, as well as American financial giants Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Citadel, as first-time ETF market entrants.
This inclusion now positions these financial giants in the same category as JPMorgan and Jane Street, which are also APs for BlackRock at this time.
JUST IN: BlackRock updated its bitcoin ETF prospectus w/ many new Authorized Participants incl first-timers Citadel, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citigroup. Takeaway: big time firms now want piece of action and/or are now OK being publicly associated w this. Regards @CryptoSlate and @akibablade—pic.twitter.com/z5Ntb43VhO
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 5, 2024
Authorized Participants administer the issuance and redemption of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), making them significant market participants.
As competition exists in the broader ETF market, mainstream banks compete to join and operate as APs for spot Bitcoin ETF issuers.
For instance, Jane Street functions as an AP for corporations other than BlackRock.
It also provides service to, among others, Grayscale’s GBTC, Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, and Valkyrie.
Eric Balchunas argues that the participation of larger banks in ETFs serves as substantial evidence that conventional traditional finance participants are increasingly inclined to adopt this investment strategy.
Changing Terrain in Bitcoin Adoption
The tide is turning significantly with the widespread adoption of Bitcoin.
While some institutions were hesitant to adopt BTC a few years ago, the approval of spot Bitcoin ETF in January signaled a paradigm shift for the cryptocurrency.
Prior to this, Coingape reported that the CEO of Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8, Asher Genoot, affirmed that the company has been approached by mainstream or Wall Street banks regarding Bitcoin acquisitions.
The supply shortage on trading platforms, which he ascribed to the spot Bitcoin ETF’s success, was the cause of this demand.
As additional APs participate, the supply shortage is expected to intensify, resulting in a long-term bullish trend for Bitcoin. As of the moment of composing.
