WisdomTree files new spot Bitcoin ETF application following BlackRock

Timmy Shen
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New York-based asset manager WisdomTree has submitted a new application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., less than a week after BlackRock filed its application for a similar spot Bitcoin ETF.

See related article: BlackRock files for spot Bitcoin ETF, taps Coinbase as custodian

Fast facts

  • WisdomTree said in a Tuesday filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it plans to launch the “WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust” to be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange under the ticker “BTCW.”

  • U.S. Bank National Association will serve as the custodian, according to the filing.

  • “The bitcoin market has matured such that it is operating at a level of efficiency and scale similar in material respects to established global equity, fixed income and commodity markets,” WisdomTree said in the filing.

  • This is not WisdomTree’s first attempt to get a spot Bitcoin ETF approved. In December 2021, the SEC rejected its application, citing a lack of “surveillance-sharing agreements” and market manipulation concerns.

  • WisdomTree’s application comes after BlackRock, which manages about US$10 trillion as the world’s biggest asset manager, filed last Thursday an application to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.

  • Earlier this month, the SEC sued Coinbase and Binance.US., two of the industry’s biggest crypto exchanges, for allegedly breaching securities rules. That adds to uncertainties the SEC will approve BlackRock’s ETF, given that a Coinbase unit would act as custodian for the product.

  • “BlackRock breathed new life into the race,” Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, tweeted Tuesday, reacting to WisdomTree’s ETF filing.

  • Bitcoin gained 7.1% over the past 24 hours to trade at US$28,808 at 10:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has risen 74% so far this year but is still far below its peak at around US$64,000 recorded in November 2021.

See related article: Citadel, Fidelity, Schwab-backed crypto exchange launches amid U.S. crackdown

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