In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is literally flooded with applications for Bitcoin ETFs. Even though the SEC has so far managed to systematically play for time and postpone its decision, it will now have to deal with yet another ETF, this time proposed by Invesco.
Invesco Bitcoin Strategy ETF comes before the SEC
The investment firm Invesco, based in the US city of Atlanta, is not what you would call a small player with $1.3 trillion in assets under management.
Invesco has already set foot in the cryptosphere, most notably in 2019 when it jointly launched a Blockchain ETF on the London Stock Exchange with Elwood, which tracks 48 companies involved in the development of blockchain technologies.
This August 4, the asset manager repeated the experiment, but this time by proposing an exchange-traded fund focused on Bitcoin before the SEC.
Called the Invesco Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the product will be based “wholly or substantially” on BTC futures, Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) as well as Bitcoin-related private equity funds like the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
Bitcoin ETFs: will the SEC finally make a statement?
While the US financial regulator will have plenty of time to delay Invesco’s current ETF for months, other cases are (finally) approaching their final deadline.
Not to mention ARK Invest’s Bitcoin ETF, which was also filed fairly recently (last June), the regulator will eventually find itself up against the wall regarding VanEck’s ETF, which is to be listed on the CBOE Chicago exchange. Indeed, even if the commission can still postpone its decision, the final deadline will arrive before the end of this year for this last ETF.
By dint of stalling without making up its mind, the SEC must now have nearly a dozen Bitcoin ETF applications in the pipeline. It’s about time they made up their minds.
The United States is thus being extremely (unusually?) cautious with the acceptance of a first Bitcoin ETF compared to other jurisdictions. For example, its Canadian neighbor has already accepted 2 BTC ETFs earlier this year.
