The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is delaying its decision on banking giant Fidelity’s spot market Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) until March. In a new document, the regulatory agency says that it needs more time to consider approving such a product – which was originally proposed in November and would see Fidelity’s ETH-based […]
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly asking firms that have bid to create Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to complete last-minute corrections before the start of 2024. According to a new report by Reuters, anonymous sources familiar with the matter say the regulatory agency met with representatives of companies that applied to […]
The post U.S. SEC Asks Firms Applying for Spot Bitcoin ETFs To Complete Last-Minute Corrections Before New Year: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking the public what they think about financial services giant Fidelity’s potential spot market Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF). In a new notice, the regulatory agency is asking the public for their opinion on Fidelity filing a bid to create an Ethereum-based ETF on the Chicago Board […]
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Getting regulatory approval has been crucial for companies, particularly in a tight regulatory environment during the crypto winter.
As the final weeks of 2023 approach, it’s fair to say that one of the most dominant trends and drivers of crypto companies’ strategies over the past months can be summed up in a single word: licenses.
In a tight regulatory environment, getting the green light from regulators has been crucial for companies, particularly during the crypto winter.
Some countries have taken a stand by developing a crypto-friendly environment. For example, the United Arab Emirates continues to attract major crypto companies to its shores, with digital assets exchange Crypto.com recently receiving a Virtual Assets Service Provider (VASP) license in Dubai. The license allows Crypto.com’s local business to offer retail and institutional trading, as well as broker-dealer and credit-related services.
Dubai also granted a similar license for institutional crypto custodian Hex Trust. The crypto firm has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Dubai, Italy and France.
Traditional players are also seeking crypto licenses. In Germany, Commerzbank has been granted a crypto custody license, according to a Nov. 15 announcement, allegedly becoming the first “full-service” bank in the country to receive the license.
Also, in this week’s regulatory headlines, Bitget dropped plans to obtain a Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) license in Hong Kong, citing business and market-related considerations. As a result, the exchange is winding down its local operations in the coming weeks.
Although licenses are essential for crypto firms to operate, they also represent a new step in the growing connection between crypto and governments worldwide.
This week’s Crypto Biz also explores Uniswap’s Android app, Cboe’s move into crypto margin futures trading and Disney’s upcoming nonfungible token (NFT) platform.
Uniswap Labs has publicly released an Android mobile wallet app on the Google Play Store. The new app allows users to make swaps through the decentralized exchange from within the app, eliminating the need for a separate web browser extension, Uniswap Labs vice president of design Callil Capuozzo told Cointelegraph. Uniswap added support for new languages and now supports English, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, French and Chinese — both traditional and simplified — and added a setting that allows users to view the value of their crypto in their local currency. The app’s iOS version was released in April.
Disney and blockchain firm Dapper Labs have teamed up to create a nonfungible token (NFT) platform. According to an announcement, Disney will tokenize its iconic cartoon characters from the past century onto its upcoming NFT marketplace, Disney Pinnacle. The platform will also include icons from Pixar and heroes and villains from the Star Wars galaxy, uniquely styled as collectible and tradable digital pins. The NFT platform will launch later in 2023 for iOS, Android and on the web.
Cboe Digital has announced the launch of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) margin futures trading on Jan. 11, 2024. The regulated crypto-native exchange and clearinghouse will become the first in the United States to offer both spot and leveraged derivatives trading on a single platform, it said in a statement. Eleven firms, including crypto and traditional financial firms, will support the new capability from its launch. They include B2C2, BlockFills, Cumberland DRW and Talos, among others. Cboe Digital provides trading for individuals and institutions. It received approval for margin futures trading from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in June.
Global investment bank Goldman Sachs and French bank BNP Paribas have reportedly led a new funding round for Fnality, a blockchain-based wholesale payments firm backed by Nomura Group. Fnality has reportedly raised 77.7 million British pounds ($95.09 million) in a second round of funding. Other investors included the global exchange-traded fund firm WisdomTree and Fnality’s existing investor Nomura. The new capital will be used for setting up a round-the-clock global liquidity management network for new digital payment models in wholesale financial markets and emerging tokenized asset markets, Fnality said. Fnality was founded in 2019 as a UBS-led blockchain project aiming to build digital versions of major currencies for wholesale payments and transactions involving digital securities.
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After the latest S-1 form spot Bitcoin ETF amendment by WisdomTree, only Franklin Templeton and Global X are yet to amend S-1 filings.
The global exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider WisdomTree filed an amended S-1 form spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF prospectus with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 16.
The update comes a few months after WisdomTree refiled its spot Bitcoin ETF application in June 2023, proposing a rule change to list and trade shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust on the BZX Exchange by Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).
The amended prospectus mentions that the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust ETF will trade under a ticker symbol BTCW, with Coinbase Custody Trust serving as the custodian and will hold all of the trust’s Bitcoin on its behalf.
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, the updated S-1 form spot Bitcoin ETF filing by WisdomTree means that the firm is still planning to launch an ETF and is discussing the opportunity with the SEC.
“All issuers were expected to have to file one of these in order to potentially launch their ETF at some point. Just a step in the process. Nothing critical,” Seyffart wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Eric Balchunas, another Bloomberg ETF expert, noticed that WisdomTree took “long enough” to amend their S-1 form Bitcoin ETF filing. “Please tell me the SEC isn’t waiting till all S-1s are updated before issuing a second round of comments,” he added.
Related: First deadline window looms for SEC to approve Bitcoin ETFs: Law Decoded
According to Seyffart’s data, only two spot Bitcoin ETF filers out of total 12 firms that have filed for such a product in the U.S. are yet to amend their S-1 filings with the SEC, including Franklin Templeton and Global X.
Okay, we're nearing in on deadline dates for 3 spot #Bitcoin ETF applications. I want to get ahead of it because there's a pretty good chance we'll see delay orders from the SEC. Delays WOULD NOT change anything about our views & 90% odds for 19b-4 approval by Jan 10, 2024 pic.twitter.com/LE7sOlHAHM
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 14, 2023
Franklin Templeton is among the firms awaiting its first spot Bitcoin ETF deadline on Nov. 17 alongside Hashdex, whose deadline was moved by the SEC a few days ago.
Global X, another firm that hasn’t amended its S-1 filing yet, is also awaiting its second spot Bitcoin ETF deadline on Nov. 21.
Bloomberg ETF analysts like Seyffart expect the SEC to do another round of delays on decisions regarding the upcoming deadlines in the near future. However, Seyffart still believes the delays would not alter his perspective of the 90% likelihood of the SEC approving a spot Bitcoin ETF before the end of January 2024.
Magazine: Crypto regulation — Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?
A Bloomberg exchange-traded fund (ETF) analyst says that the market could be inundated by Ethereum (ETH) futures ETFs starting on October 2nd. In a new thread on the social media platform X, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart notes that nine different ETH-based futures ETFs are set to potentially launch on Monday, adding that it will […]
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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved leveraged crypto derivatives products for the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). According to a press release, the CFTC has given approval to Cboe Clear Digital to provide clearing services for digital asset futures on a margined basis. “The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today approved an amended order […]
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has turned down another attempt to launch a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund proposed by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and global crypto ETF provider 21Shares. In a newly issued order, the SEC is rejecting a proposal that would allow the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF to be listed on […]
The post U.S. SEC Once Again Rejects ARK Invest’s Proposal for a Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
A goodwill impairment from ErisX significantly hurt the company's GAAP earnings, but otherwise, business results improved from last year.
On Friday, Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), the largest options exchange in the United States, announced its second-quarter earnings results. Of particular interest was its total operating expenses, which soared 685% year-over-year from $160.6 million. CBOE explained:
"This was primarily due to the $460 million impairment of goodwill recognized in the Digital reporting unit, driven by negative events and trends in the broader digital asset environment. The said environment has changed dramatically since we closed the ErisX transaction on May 2, which resulted in the accounting adjustment."
ErisX enables self-directed individual retirement accounts, or IRAs, for U.S. residents to invest in crypto assets. This was CBOE's first venture into the digital assets sector; the company expects ErisX to be a long-term leader in the industry. The terms of the deal were not disclosed in the original acquisition.
However, it appears that ErisX's fortunes worsened due to the cryptocurrency bear market. CBOE says that ErisX currently has a book value of $220 million. But, during Q2, CBOE took a goodwill impairment charge of $460.1 million linked directly to ErisX. Goodwill represents the difference between a firm's acquisition value and the value of its net assets. Companies can be forced to take substantial goodwill write-offs if they overpaid for acquisitions.
Related: SEC extends window to decide on ARK 21Shares spot Bitcoin ETF to August
Nevertheless, the woes of CBOE's digital segment were counterbalanced by core operations. On an overall basis, the derivatives exchange's sales grew by 21% year-over-year to $424 million. Simultaneously, after removing the one-time, non-cash, goodwill impairment, its adjusted earnings increased by 21% year-over-year to $1.67 per share.
Both of the new Australian exchange-traded funds by 3iQ Digital Asset Management will feed from its existing Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
A further two cryptocurrency-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have launched on the Cboe Australia exchange on June 7 bringing the total amount of crypto ETFs available to Australian traders to six.
The Canada-based 3iQ Digital Asset Management (3iQ) launched two spot ETFs, the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin (BTC) Feeder ETF and the 3iQ CoinShares Ether (ETH) Feeder ETF.
Both of the Australian funds feed from the firm's Canadian ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF, and the 3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF. The underlying assets of the Canadian ETFs are holdings of BTC and ETH held in cold storage by the Gemini crypto exchange.
3iQs funds join the Bitcoin and Ethereum backed funds by 21Shares and Cosmos Asset Management the latter of which saw launch delays in April due to a still-unnamed service provider needing time to support the launch.
Three ETFs, a Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF by 21Shares and a Bitcoin ETF by Cosmos eventually opened to trading in early May becoming the first crypto ETFs in Australia. Cosmos later released an Ethereum-backed fund on May 31.
Much like 3iQ funds, the underlying assets for the Cosmos ETFs are direct investments into the Canadian Purpose Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs whilst the funds issued by 21Shares are backed by Bitcoin and Ethereum reserves held in cold storage by Coinbase.
A point of difference is that 3iQ boasts is having the lowest expense ratio out of the six, at 1.2%, — 0.05% lower than the 21Shares and Cosmos ETFs each with an expense ratio of 1.25%.
Related: Amid crypto bear market, institutional investors scoop up Bitcoin: CoinShares
The three original funds by 21Shares and Cosmos had a sluggish start to trading only seeing $1.3 million in volume on the day of launch, far below the estimated $1 billion of expected inflows. The two 21Shares funds received a total of around $936,500 of total inflows, whilst Cosmos’ Bitcoin fund received just over $398,000.
According to data from Cboe at the time of writing, the two 3iQ ETFs have seen a volume of 13,592 and 9,754 shares traded of the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, accounting for around $73,415 and $73,605 respectively to a total of over $147,000, much smaller than its competitors.
