U.S. Bitcoin ETFs: What’s the current status?

U.S. Bitcoin ETFs made a lot of noise in the past month with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approval of the first Bitcoin-linked ETF on October 15th, 2021 the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF or BITO. The fund invests in Bitcoin futures contracts that trade on a CME Group venue, an exchange that is overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. BITO ETF has amassed $1.41 billion of assets since it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on October 19th, staging one of the strongest ETF debuts in history and illustrating the strong appetite for crypto fund-based exposure. Learn more: What is BITO ETF? How do futures ETFs work?

Dozens of Bitcoin ETFs remain piled up in the SEC's drawers with few having a good chance of ever seeing the light.

SEC was not on team Bitcoin ETFs

The SEC has been long opposing and rejecting Spot Bitcoin ETFs, citing concerns over “fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” in the markets where bitcoin is traded. The VanEck Bitcoin ETF got the recent snub, with intentions to directly track the Bitcoin's price moves. The application was filed in March by the CBOE BZX Exchange, which wanted the SEC to make a rule change allowing it to list the VanEck bitcoin fund. The SEC said the CBOE had not done enough to demonstrate it could prevent fraudulent trading to protect investors.

VanEck’s plan B in effect, introducing XBTF

VanEck's rejection was highly anticipated due to the aforementioned reasons. However, the company carried on with its plan B, the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy Fund, a future-based ETF set to begin trading on Tuesday, November 16 on Chicago-based CBOE exchange. The fund will finally trade under the ticker "XBTF" after delays since winning SEC approval in late October.

For Bitcoin enthusiasts interested in pending applications of physically backed or futures-based Bitcoin ETFs, look no further:

List of U.S. "Spot" or "Coin-based" Bitcoin ETFs awaiting approval: 

• Kryptoin Bitcoin ETF by Kryptoin Investment Advisors
• Bitcoin Commodity Trust by Wilshire Phoenix
• Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund by Valkyrie Investments
• NYDIG Bitcoin ETF by Stone Ridge & NYDIG
• WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust by WisdomTree
• First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust by First Trust & Skybridge
• Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF Trust by Fidelity
• Kryptoin Bitcoin ETF Trust (Re-filing) by Kryptoin Investment Advisors
• Galaxy Bitcoin ETF by Galaxy Digital
• wShares Bitcoin Commodity Trust (Re-filing) by Wilshire Phoenix
• One River Carbon Neural Bitcoin Trust by One River
• ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF by 21 Shares & ARK Invest
• Global X Bitcoin Trust by Global X
• Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF by Invesco & Galaxy
• BlockFi NB Bitcoin ETF by BlockFi

List of U.S. future-based Bitcoin ETFs awaiting approval:

• First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin Strategy Fund by First Trust
• Galaxy Bitcoin Strategy ETF by Galaxy Digital
• AdvisorShares Managed Bitcoin ETF by AdvisorShares & Morgan Creek
• Valkyrie XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund by Valkyrie Investments
• Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy Fund by Bitwise
• BlockFi Bitcoin Strategy Fund by BlockFi & ETC
• Ark 21Shares Bitcoin Futures Strategy ETF by ARK Invest & 21Shares

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