In the last few weeks, there have been notable developments in the spot Bitcoin ETF saga in the US, with asset managers revising their application forms following dialogue with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On December 29, which marked the final day for S-1 amendments, Fidelity Investments, alongside six other asset managers, namely VanEck, Bitwise, WisdomTree, Invesco, BlackRock, and Valkyrie, all updated their ETF applications with the SEC in what seems like a preparatory move for an approval by the US securities regulator.
Fidelity Offers Lowest Sponsor Fee In Incentive Competition Among Asset Managers
In its S-1 form update, Fidelity Investments revealed more information on its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF, notably announcing Jane Street Capital as an authorized participant (AP). For context, authorized participants are typically large financial institutions that play a crucial role in the creation and redemption process of an ETF.
Furthermore, Fidelity is also looking to beat fellow asset managers in attracting investors by offering the lowest sponsor fee of 0.39%. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has commended this move, stating that “Fidelity is officially ready to party.”
Invesco/Galaxy is in and here's a whopper: it will be waiving fee for first six months AND for first $5b in assets, APs named as well, Virtu and JPMorgan (again lol). Another horse in. Are we having fun yet? pic.twitter.com/mDUOOSnA29
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 29, 2023
Interestingly, some asset managers have joined in on this incentive game, with Invesco waiving its 0.59% sponsor fee on the first $5 billion of Trust assets for the initial six months after the launch of its proposed Bitcoin ETF.
Meanwhile, in its updated form on December 29, BlackRock, which is considered the largest asset manager in the world and a leading participant in the race for the SEC’s approval, announced Jane Street Capital and JP Morgan Securities as its authorized participants.
In total, 13 of the 14 asset managers vying for the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF amended their applications on Friday. These include Grayscale, ARK Invest, Franklin Templeton, Global X ETFs, Pando Asset, and Hashdex, in addition to the seven initially mentioned above.
Bitcoin ETF Saga Approaches A Possible End
Following the multiple amendments by various asset managers in the spot Bitcoin ETF race, it appears the whole saga is coming to a definite conclusion. The widely acclaimed decision window for the SEC remains between January 8 – January 10, with many analysts optimistic of several approval orders by the regulatory body.
However, analysts remain torn on the possible effects of the spot ETF on the Bitcoin asset.
According to data analytics platform CryptoQuant, the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF could cause the digital asset to fall as low as $32,000 in what is called a “sell the news” event. This is in contrast to other analysts who predict an increased demand for Bitcoin, resulting in a surge in market price.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $42,060.01 following a 1.42% decline in the last day. Meanwhile, the token’s daily trading volume is up by 2.28% and is valued at $23.74 billion.
