Cboe Global Markets has become the exchange partner to list the Fidelity Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States, giving a push to the already submitted application with the US financial market regulator.
Cboe BZX Exchange filed a 19b-4 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday. This acknowledges the support of the exchange for the Bitcoin ETF, which is a mandatory requirement.
Wise Origin, which is a fund affiliated with the investment giant Fidelity, first filed an application in March with the SEC seeking approval for the Bitcoin ETF. The latest form 19b-4 filing has completed the application process.
Now, the US market regulator has an initial 45 days to respond to the Bitcoin ETF application.
2021: Year of Bitcoin ETF?
Many US companies have pushed to become the first to launch a Bitcoin ETF in the country. However, none have succeeded yet. Initially, the SEC rejected multiple applications, citing risks in the industry, while a few companies also withdrew their applications expecting rejection.
The hope for the industry persists as a few more Bitcoin ETF applications, other than the Fidelity one, are under the SEC’s review process. The applications were submitted by VanEck, Kryptoin, and WisdomTree, with Cboe BZX being the exchange partner for all. Additionally, Valkyrie filed an application with NYSE Arca as its partner.
Another four Bitcoin ETF applications have been submitted with the SEC by Simplify, SkyBridge, NYDIG and Galaxy Digital, but they are yet to come up with an exchange partner. Apart from the Bitcoin ETFs, VanEck applied for an Ethereum ETF.
Many experts are optimistic about seeing approval for a Bitcoin ETF in 2021 as the regulatory agency had a leadership change. Gary Gensler, the new SEC Chairman, is believed to be much more lenient towards crypto compared to his predecessor Jay Claton.
While the US is still struggling with a Bitcoin ETF, neighboring country Canada has become one of the preferred markets in just a few months with its acceptance of multiple crypto ETFs.
