- Bitcoin suffered a price drop as uncertainty surrounding ETFs grew.
- Fidelity, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan showed growing interest in Bitcoin ETFs.
Fidelity Investments, a leading US asset manager, took a big step on January 3 by applying for registration of its spot Bitcoin ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It has filed a Form 8-A with the SEC to register its Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund.
The news comes amid a recent report from Matrixport, which intensified speculation by claiming that the chances of the SEC approving an ETF in January are low.
Bitcoin [BTC] also faced a significant drop in price over the past 24 hours as uncertainty took over the market.
Nevertheless, the SEC approval process for Fidelity is underway, with its registration already greenlit by the Cboe exchange under the symbol FBTC.
Despite still being in the preliminary stages, analysts expect progress in the coming week.
My understanding is that this is just a securities registration. In order to list, the ETF still requires a 19b-4 approval and an effective/approved/completed S-1 document. Not yet 19b-4. And S-1 is still provisional (see below). I’m still looking forward to next week https://t.co/VsgbpJHMVp pic.twitter.com/Iu31AkUswP
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) January 3, 2024
Institutional interest is growing
The intrigue in the ETF story extended beyond Fidelity Investments. Major banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have also reportedly entered the ETF scene, attracting significant attention.
Media reports indicated that Grayscale Investments, a crypto asset manager, was in talks with financial giants, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, about possible involvement in the proposed spot Bitcoin ETF.
At the time of writing, Grayscale’s SEC filing was missing the list of authorized participants, indicating ongoing negotiations.
Goldman Sachs, which aims to serve as an “authorized participant” (AP) in these ETFs, plays a critical role in managing ETFs by facilitating the creation and redemption of shares in the fund.
Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price forecast 2023-24
ETF issuers can designate multiple financial companies as authorized participants. Although Goldman Sachs has made its intention known, other financial firms still have the opportunity to join.
The collective influence of these Wall Street giants is expected to determine Bitcoin’s trajectory. The cryptocurrency, which was trading at $42,544.09 at the time of writing, was down 4.9% in the past 24 hours.
Source: Santiment