Fund Manager WisdomTree Reportedly Refiles Spot Bitcoin ETF to SEC
Asset manager WisdomTree is attempting to resubmit a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) despite previous rejections.
The company filed an amendment with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.
“This just means WisdomTree is still planning to launch an ETF and is in talks with the SEC’s corp fin division.”
UPDATE: Theres the S-1/Prospectus amendment for @WisdomTreeFunds’s spot #bitcoin ETF pic.twitter.com/RKzWbuKnl1
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 16, 2023
Dubbed S-1, the revised filing comes amid increased interest in cryptocurrency ETFs. The U.S. crypto firm NYDIG estimates demand for a spot Bitcoin ETF at around $30 billion.
Seyffart noted that there is nothing critical in the filling as all issuers are expected to file with the regulator. “Just a step in the process. Nothing critical,” he added.
Mainstream investment giants BlackRock and Fidelity, along with crypto-focused companies like Grayscale have each filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the SEC. However, the SEC has not yet approved a spot Bitcoin ETF application.
According to experts and crypto market speculators, the first approval could come early in 2024. Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research for North America at Morningstar, notes that for ETF investors, this would be the “best product on the market.”
WisdomTree Bets on Bitcoin ETFs
WisdomTree has faced rejections from the SEC over its Bitcoin ETF filings previously. The SEC rejected WisdomTree’s previous applications in 2021 and 2022 noting that the filings were short of investor protections.
However, WisdomTree’s Jeremy Schwartz believes that the changes made in the filings would satisfy regulators. In July, Schwartz noted that the firm has been successfully able to launch products in Europe.
“The European regulators have been more friendly, and they’ve been able to get comfortable with the mechanisms, the custodians [and] how the markets work,” he said at the time.
