- Blackrock’s Bitcoin spot ETF gets a birth certificate, while the company may start with cash
- Bitcoin [BTC] is seeing a huge rise in the market, with the King Coin surpassing the $35,000 level today
The crypto market’s call for a Bitcoin ETF only seems to be getting stronger by the day. Today’s spotlight (October 23) is taken up by two prominent players in the Bitcoin spot ETF market, Blackrock and Grayscale.
One has scored a victory at the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), while the other appears to be preparing to launch a full-scale spot Bitcoin ETF. With these latest developments, BTC witnessed a massive rise in the market.
The coin has gained over $3,000 in the last 24 hours, breaking the $34,000 level on its latest move. According to CoinMarketCap, at the time of writing, BTC was trading at $33,120.55 with a market cap of over $650 billion.
The king coin witnessed a gain of over 5% in the last hour, while the gain in the last 24 hours was over 11%. Meanwhile, the seven-day chart showed an increase of over 16.60%.
How much are 1,10,100 BTCs worth today?
Around 4:00 AM (UTC+5:30), the coin shot past the $34,000 level and reached a high of 35,000 on Coinbase before retreating and now settling around the $33,300 level.
Source: TradingView
Blackrock’s Bitcoin spot ETF sees developments
The investment management giant appears to be preparing to launch its spot Bitcoin ETF. This was because it had officially received a birth certificate. According to Scott Johnson – financial lawyer – the latest iShares changes include two important changes. The first is that it has “obtained a CUSIP in preparation for a launch,” while the second is that the company “may be looking to raise funds this month.”
If explained by crypto netizen – CryptoMartyX, CUSIP stands for Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures, a “unique identification code assigned to securities,” like a birth certificate. This essentially indicates that the company is preparing to issue and trade a new security, and in Blackrock’s case, the new security could be a Bitcoin spot ETF.
As for the second aspect of cash seeding, CryptoMartyX said:
“When a new ETF is created, it needs initial assets to function before other investors start buying shares. The mention that they may be looking to raise money this month implies that BlackRock may be putting their own capital into the ETF to get it going. This action can also demonstrate confidence in the product.”
The iShares Bitcoin Trust was subsequently also listed about the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). Eric Balchunas – senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg – said:
The iShares Bitcoin Trust is listed on the DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, which clears NASDAQ transactions). And the ticker will be $IBTC. Again, all part of the process of bringing ETF to market. h/t @martypartymusic pic.twitter.com/8PQP3h2yW0
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 23, 2023
Grayscale closes its SEC chapter in court
Subsequently, the lawsuit brought by Grayscale – a notable digital asset management company – against the SEC ended today (October 23). The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has done so rounded his ruling, forcing SEC to vacate its rejection decision on the conversion of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust to a Bitcoin spot ETF.
The first decision was taken by the court two months ago. However, the SEC had the option to appeal, with an October 2023 deadline. However, because the committee conceded to the court’s ruling, the verdict is now final. In particular, the committee still has the right to reject the application after a new assessment. But Grayscale has already announced that it will take the cases back to court.