Arcane Research analyst Vetle Lunde called approval unlikely SEC applications from Fidelity Investments and SkyBridge Capital to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.
BTC ETFs: Fidelity and SkyBridge verdicts coming shortly. Approval seems unlikely, given the prev. rejections.
Still, pay attention to Fidelity. They’ve reportedly arranged private meetings with the SEC, in addition to providing PD analysis on BTC, contrary to most other filings pic.twitter.com/6eMkc2DyY1
– Vetle Lunde (@VetleLunde) January 9, 2022
SkyBridge Capital and First Trust Advisors applied to launch Bitcoin ETF on March 20, 2021, Fidelity Investments on March 25.
Lunde referred to the agency’s previous refusals. In particular, on November 12, the SEC rejected a statement from VanEck, on December 1 – from WisdomTree, on December 23 – from Valkyrie Investments and by Kryptoin Investment Advisors…
The analyst suggested focusing on the Fidelity solution. The company has organized a series of private meetings with SEC officials to argue in favor of approving the ETF spot option.
Arcane Research also pointed to a waning interest in the ProShares Bitcoin Futures Exchange Traded Fund (BITO), attributing this to the associated costs of rolling tools.
For the first time since November, BITO has reduced the number of contracts it has acquired on CME to less than 5,000. AUM dropped to $ 1.03 billion. The same indicator was observed almost immediately after its debut.
Proshares’ BITO ETF has failed to maintain its momentum, likely due to the costs associated with rolling.
The fund now holds less than 5000 CME contracts for the first time since Nov.
The AUM of BITO is even more disheartening, sitting at $ 1.03bn, the lowest since Oct 19. pic.twitter.com/p7dKGinUIS
– Vetle Lunde (@VetleLunde) January 9, 2022
According to Lunde, a similar picture is observed for the competitors of BITO – ETF from Valkyrie Investments holds 150 contracts (AUM at a minimum since October 25), a similar structure from VanEck – 79 contracts.
“The market has expressed its opinion, and it is clearly not in favor of ETF based on bitcoin futures”, – summed up the analyst.
The futures-based ETFs overall fail to gain any traction.
Valkyrie currently holds 150 Jan contracts. Lowest AUM since Oct 25th. Meanwhile, VanEck holds a meager 79 Jan contracts.
The market has spoken, and it’s clearly not in favor of the futures-based ETFs.
– Vetle Lunde (@VetleLunde) January 9, 2022
Earlier, Grayscale Investments admitted that the SEC violated the law when approving bitcoin futures ETFs.
Recall, CIO Bitwise Asset Management Matthew Hugan doubted that such instruments are suitable for long-term investors.
In December, the SEC postponed the decision on the applications of Grayscale Investments and Bitwise Asset Management to launch a Bitcoin ETF.