Seven Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF Applicants Amend Submissions

Table of Contents

• December 29 Deadline for Spot BTC ETF Amendments
• Fidelity, WisdomTree, Bitwise, and Invesco Galaxy Follow
• Fee Competition

Seven of the 13 spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applicants submitted final versions of their Form S-1 applications to the SEC. Invesco, Bitwise, WisdomTree and Fidelity amended their applications with the SEC on the deadline. 

Several spot bitcoin ETF applicants submitted revised S-1s with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the December 29 deadline, including Invesco, Bitwise, WisdomTree, Fidelity, BlackRock, VanEck, and Valkyrie.  

December 29 Deadline for Spot BTC ETF Amendments

On December 27, the SEC set a December 29 deadline for final changes to spot bitcoin ETF filings. With the SEC expected to decide on January 10 2024, whether to approve or deny the first spot BTC ETF in the US, firms are rushing to finalize their submissions. 

Grayscale was quick on the SEC’s announcement and filed an amended S-3 filing with the agency. The amended filing was made after the CEO of Grayscale’s parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), Barry Silbert, left Grayscale’s board of directors. The amended filing indicates Grayscale and the SEC reached a compromise with the investment firm agreeing to adhere to the cash-only creation and redemption demand. 

BlackRock, Valkyrie and VanEck were the first to submit amendments on December 29. In keeping with the SEC’s preferences, Van Eck amended its application to say:

“Financial firms that are authorized to purchase or redeem Shares with the Trust (known as ‘Authorized Participants’ or ‘APs’) will deliver only cash to create Shares and will receive only cash when redeeming Shares.” 

Fidelity, WisdomTree, Bitwise, and Invesco Galaxy Follow

BlackRock amended its filing, naming Jane Street and JPMorgan Securities as “authorised participants” in its filing. Valkyrie named Jane Street Capital and Cantor Fitzgerald and its authorised participants and stated StoneX Financial will act as its lead market maker. According to a report by Reuters, Valkyrie said it would levy its management fee of 0.80% on the ETF if the SEC approves the products in early 2024. 

Following in BlackRock, Van Eck, and Valkyrie’s footsteps, Fidelity, WisdomTree, Bitwise, and Invesco Galaxy amended their applications on December 29. 

Invesco Galaxy announced Virtu and JPMorgan as its authorised participants, and WisdomTree and Fidelity both named Jane Street Capital as theirs. WisdomTree also maintained its in-kind share creation and redemption. 

Fee Competition

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted on X (formerly Twitter) that the applicants had begun a slight price war. According to Reuters’ report, Invesco will waive its fee for the first six months and the first $5 billion in assets, while Fidelity set its fee at 0.39%.

Balchunas commented:

“Yes.. told ya'll the fee war would break out bf the starting gun even went off. And it won't ever end. This is normal life in the ETF Terrordome tho, the crypto exchange mind cannot comprehend this.” 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.