Fidelity Urges the SEC to Approve A Bitcoin ETF As Another BTC Futures ETF Filed

Fidelity Investments has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in a private meeting, reported Bloomberg. Tom Jessop, the president of Fidelity Digital Assets (FDA) along with other executives, met with SEC officials over a video call on Sept. 8, according to a recent filing. Laying down the reasons why the regulator should approve the proposed products, the executives pointed to increased investor appetite for crypto assets, the growth of Bitcoin holders, the existence of similar funds in other countries, and the regulator being slow to embrace, according to a presentation from the meeting. “Bitcoin prospects-based items are not a vital interval venture before a Bitcoin ETP,” Fidelity said. “Firms ought to have the option to fulfill financial backer need for direct openness to Bitcoin” through ETFs enrolled under those 1930s laws, “on the grounds that the Bitcoin market has developed and can uphold them.” In March, Fidelity filed the application for its Bitcoin ETF called the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust. According to Rebecca Sin, ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, the listing of crypto ETFs in the US “could boost ETF revenue to 20 billion over the next five years.” As we have reported, several firms have filed their applications for a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF. In fact, the first such application was filed by Winklevoss twins eight years back, but not a single one has been approved yet. “A progressively wide scope of financial backers looking for admittance to Bitcoin has highlighted the market need for a more differentiated arrangement of items offering openness to advanced resources for match interest,” Fidelity representative Nicole Abbott told Bloomberg. However, recently, SEC Chair Gary Gensler did signal his openness to a futures-backed Bitcoin ETF as it offers increased investor protection. Since Gensler’s comments, several firms have also filed for a Bitcoin Futures ETF, and the industry experts expect one to get approved by the end of this year. On Tuesday, ETF Series Solution also filed for a Bitcoin futures ETF with Bitwise Index Services. The Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy ETF was filed under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and seeks to invest in bitcoin futures and other financial products, including “Canadian-listed funds that provide exposure to bitcoin.” [deco-beg-single-coin-widget coin="BTC"]