•Fidelity is reported to be filing for a Bitcoin spot ETF.
•The SEC has yet to approve such an ETF in the US.
•Popular ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) saw weekly inflows of over $65 billion, resulting in the fund’s assets going above $1 billion.
Fidelity Filing for a Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
Asset management giant Fidelity is close to submitting its filing for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to The Block. This comes after similar rumors surrounding BlackRock filing, the largest global asset manager with over $9 trillion under its wing.
SEC Rejections
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to approve a Bitcoin Spot ETF in the United States. Grayscale applied for one in March 2022, which was rejected by the SEC, along with Fidelity’s plea for a Bitcoin Spot ETF earlier this year in January 2022. In spite of this, BlackRock has had 575 ETFs approved against only one rejection, spurring investor interest from the crypto community.
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO)
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted a surge of inflows into ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO). BITO was the first US-based BTC-linked ETF and stays popular among investors, having seen weekly inflows of over $65 billion and surpassing $1 billion in assets under its wing. According to Balchunas’ observation, BITO tracked Bitcoin price action almost “perfectly” despite it being futures trading as opposed to spot trading which carries greater risks.
Fidelity’s Crypto Exposure
Due to increased demand Fidelity has doubled down on crypto related stocks since 2021’s beginning. The company is now the third largest MicroStrategy stock owner and continues increasing its exposure towards digital assets like BTC and ETH by investing more into these markets over time.
Conclusion
It remains unclear whether or not Fidelity will get approval from SEC regarding their submission of filing for a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund but it would mean great strides forward if they did get approval from SEC making them one step closer on becoming an early entrant when it comes to offering their customers access towards digital assets like BTC and ETH through traditional financial services companies like themselves