GSR Secures UK FCA Approval, Expands Regulated Crypto Services
GSR has obtained dual regulatory approval in the UK and Singapore, broadening its crypto trading services for institutional clients.
Representatives from both BlackRock institutional firm and Nasdaq have looked to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to consider the proposal of allowing a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
In a recent memo from Edward Cho, Office of Market Supervision, Division of Trading and Markets within the SEC, BlackRock laid out how it would be using a model for its Bitcoin trust. The trust, called the iShares Bitcoin Trust, would have an in-kind or in-cash rewards approach. The SEC have no responded to either of the models. James Seyffart, an asset manager and crypto adovate pointed out the news on X:
Looks like @BlackRock also met with SEC! There’s a couple slides in relation to in-kind vs cash creation. Based on this it looks like BlackRock prefers in-kind for their #bitcoin ETF (makes sense as its probably cleanest structure for them & end investors)
h/t @btcNLNico https://t.co/AK0XspL4zJ pic.twitter.com/eeuUT9T5mn— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 22, 2023
Several analysts believe the SEC are close to making a decision about a spot Bitcoin ETF. While other countries have approved a spot Bitcoin ETF, including Canada, Germany, Jersey, Brazil, Liechtenstein, Guernsey, Australia, and the Cayman Islands, the US market still faces an absense of the asset. An approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF would mark a massive boost in the adoption of cryptocurrency into traditional markets.
It remains to be seen whether the commission will approve a Bitcoin spot ETF. Over the past years, the SEC has rejected and delayed applications from several leading institutional financial firms, including Valkyrie, VanEck, Bitwise and Fidelity. BlackRock was the first company that applied for a spot ETF on the Nasdaq exchange.