Pop the champagne and light up the fireworks - the eagerly awaited nod for spot bitcoin ETFs has arrived. has finally arrived .
On January 10, 2024, the SEC officially gave its blessing to over a dozen companies to roll out spot bitcoin ETFs in the American market.
Keypoints
- Several spot bitcoin ETFs have gained the SEC’s official approval and could start trading as early as Thursday. This marks a watershed moment as attempts to launch such ETFs date back over a decade.
- This breakthrough comes after a setback the SEC faced in courts back in 2023, compelling them to reconsider their continuous rejection of spot bitcoin ETFs. The court found the SEC’s explanations to be insufficient.
- These freshly approved ETFs come from well-known asset management giants such as BlackRock, Ark Invest, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Invesco, VanEck, Valkyrie, among others.
- Management fees for the ETFs range from 0% to 1.5%, with several firms electing to waive fees initially to pool in resources. Notably, BlackRock offers fees as low as 0.12%.
- Anticipation spurred bitcoin’s rally ahead of the approval, with its price moving up from around $27,000 in September to surpassing $45,000 by early January.
It’s a historic achievement over ten years in the making. The asset management industry has attempted to introduce spot bitcoin ETFs since 2013, when Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss first submitted their application for the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF. Previous denials by the SEC were due to concerns about manipulation and the insufficient regulation of bitcoin trading.
Everything shifted as 2023 rolled in. Grayscale Investments took the SEC to task over its refusal to convert their bitcoin trust to an ETF and came out victorious. The court highlighted that the SEC had inadequately laid out reasons for its denial. This forced the SEC to reconsider, leading to approvals for not just Grayscale but also several other entities among the financial heavyweights.
Among the approved spot bitcoin ETFs are well-established names like BlackRock, Ark Invest, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, and VanEck. Crypto-focused companies also joined the lineup, including Grayscale, Galaxy Digital, 21Shares, Bitwise, and Hashdex. With regulatory barriers lowered, these companies are now poised to unveil spot bitcoin ETFs to eager American investors.
The race to amass assets is expected to be intense, with issuers attracting attention by quoting low management fees in their latest documents. BlackRock is at the forefront with a minimal 0.12% yearly fee, whereas Bitwise and Ark Invest are scrapping fees for the first six months or until $1 billion in assets are gathered. Other firms like Fidelity and Invesco Galaxy are also waiving fees for nearly six months. The strategy is clear: capturing investor capital early on could help ETFs reach a sustainable size.
This development primarily represents a significant victory for bitcoin itself. With the SEC’s seal of approval, spot bitcoin ETFs are anticipated to bring a surge of new institutional capital into the crypto realm. First-year inflows are expected to soar between $2 billion to possibly $14 billion. It’s a new era of bitcoin frenzy!
And the market took note. As the potential for approval solidified over 2023 into 2024, bitcoin embarked on a fresh bull impetus. The digital currency surged from around $27,000 last September, swelling to over $45,000 by early January, and nearing $47,000 immediately following the SEC’s official announcement.
While short-term profits are bound to see some taking, bitcoin appears ready to aim for exhilarating heights in 2024 and beyond. Spot ETFs provide straightforward entry to reliable bitcoin trading for both Wall Street veterans and individual investors. The SEC’s endorsement also boosts bitcoin’s status as a maturing digital asset class.
Naturally, believers might say bitcoin’s inherent might was always destined to triumph over any regulatory stumbling blocks eventually. At long last, the suited financial custodians have given the green signal for people to trade bitcoin as they wish.
This isn’t just a joyous occasion for crypto anarchists, but for those across the spectrum - institutional investors, Robinhood day-traders, and 401k planners nationwide!
The celebration for Bitcoin has finally begun, albeit long overdue, but just in time for bitcoin’s exciting bull market run in 2024.
Before wrapping up, gratitude goes to Satoshi and Hal...
Hal Finney
The computer scientist Hal Finney was an innovator in cryptography and a persistent participant in the cypherpunk movement, contributing significantly to the growth of digital money and privacy-promoting technologies.
He’s mainly remembered in the bitcoin culture for being the recipient of the inaugural bitcoin transaction sent by the elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, on January 12, 2009.
On January 10, in 2009, Finney tweeted that he was “running bitcoin,” a testament to his success in downloading the original Bitcoin software, compiling it, and establishing a node on the nascent Bitcoin network.
This historic tweet from Finney has become part of Bitcoin folklore, evidencing his early involvement alongside Satoshi himself participating in proliferating the Bitcoin protocol software around its debut in January 2009.
Running bitcoin
— halfin (@halfin) January 11, 2009
Shortly after tweeting, on January 12, Finney received the notable first bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto, serving as a network test. As a result, Finney is regarded as the earliest bitcoin recipient.
Gratitude extends to Satoshi and Hal. Here’s to endless years of realizing a vision ...
