In recent weeks, BlackRock’s decision to file for a spot in the Bitcoin ETF has raised multiple questions about its impact on the market.
Early June, Bitcoin’s price experienced a surge that saw it rise by almost more than 14% following the move by BlackRock to file for a spot Bitcoin ETF. Although most attention in the coming months will focus on the SEC’s response, BlackRock’s filing will raise many questions. The market will wonder how it could be affected if the filing is approved.
The CEO of Kraken-subsidiary CF Benchmarks – Sui Chung, who has been at the pivot of Bitcoin EFT filling processes over the years believes that the most recent filling process by BlackRock is quite different from other filling processes that have occurred before. Chung’s company is the firm in charge of providing the index to be used by spot bitcoin ETFs being posed by BlackRock, Valkyrie, and WisdomTree.
Sui Chung also went into detail to speak about the magnitude of the potential market for the funds.
The Bitcoin ETF move by BlackRock
When asked about BlackRock’s recent ETF filing, Sui Chung explained that CF Benchmarks has the most filings. His firm has been involved in seven out of the 13 Bitcoin ETF filings made. Chung added that this filing differs due to something called SSA with the Bitcoin spot market. He pointed out that this feature appears on page 36 of Nasdaq’s 19-b4. Chung explained that this feature has never appeared in any previous 19-b4 by any national stock exchange in the United States.
According to Chung, the SSA aims to address the Commission’s concerns outlined in its dissatisfaction with other 19-b4 processes. Before the SSA, Chung notes that issues arose due to insufficient measures during exchange listings. These listings lacked mechanisms to prevent manipulative trading and potential ETF share manipulation.
Nasdaq Move to tackle SEC Concerns
Chung also mentioned that Nasdaq’s 19-b4, now available to the public, proposes measures to address the SEC’s concerns. He also added that, from his standpoint, addressing the SEC’s concerns requires collective action. The goal is to understand and interpret the expectations of the SEC. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of analyzing past efforts. Raising the bar from those attempts is crucial for progress.
On how long the approval process could take, the CF Benchmarks CEO, noted that the standard time was around 45 days. However, SEC had the power to extend the approval time by another 45 days. He also added that even after the 45 days, the SEC still had the authority to ‘extend’ rather than delay the entire process further. According to Chung, the approval could take a total of 230 days before settling on a final verdict.
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Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
