Grayscale And Ark Invest Among Latest Fund Managers To File 8-A Forms As Spot Bitcoin ETFs Inch Closer To Possible Approval

ByLockridge Okoth

Updated: 05 January 2024

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Grayscale and Ark Invest joined Fidelity in filing 8-A forms to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), signaling that spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) are inching closer to a possible imminent approval.

Others who filed include Valkyrie and VanEck, with the filing serving as registration to allow issuers to trade on an exchange.

Breaking: Following @BitwiseInvest and @Fidelity , @Grayscale has filed its 8-A. $GBTC is now ready to be traded on public exchange as a registered security. 👀 pic.twitter.com/31RiLHNHih

— MartyParty (@martypartymusic) January 4, 2024

The news comes as institutions look to comply with SEC requirements. It also comes as the Jan. 5 to Jan. 10 window for approval, suggested by Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, opens. On balance, the development serves as incremental evidence of ongoing engagement while tipping the odds further in favor of approvals.

To approve an 8-A registered security for listing on a registered exchange, the SEC commission, comprising five officials, requires a majority vote of at least three out of the five. This means that at least three commissioners must vote in favor of the security for it to be approved for listing.

Grayscale Reinforces Approval Hopes With GBTC Listing

Grayscale’s move comes after it listed its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) on its retail-facing website. Elsewhere, the firm’s CLO Craig Salm recently teased that he was “just filling out some forms.”

Just filling out some Forms

— Craig Salm (@CraigSalm) January 4, 2024

Meanwhile, the head of research at CoinShares, James Butterfill, believes current Bitcoin prices could be indicative of the market pricing $1 billion seed money into spot Bitcoin ETFs. The researcher bases his assumption on the firm’s fund flow model.

Based on our fund flows model, current Bitcoin prices suggest the market is pricing US$1bn seed into US spot-based ETFs. pic.twitter.com/3NP5vnDPJu

— James Butterfill (@jbutterfill) January 4, 2024

A senior reporter at TechCrunch, Jacquelyn Melinek, tweeted that “sources extremely close to the matter” said approvals will be announced today, January 5, for multiple firms.

heard from sources extremely close to the matter that the bitcoin spot ETF is going to be approved by the SEC for *multiple* firms' applications

— Jacquelyn Melinek (@jacqmelinek) January 4, 2024

The Bitcoin price is trading at $43,553, with trading volume up 15%. The market is cautious despite the anticipation after longs and shorts were battered following a Matrixport report that the applications would be denied.

If news fails to come today, the markets may have to wait until Monday, January 8 when the hard deadline sets in, according to Seyffart.

Lot of noise about tomorrow. Sticking to this. I'm not expecting official #bitcoin ETF approval orders tomorrow. Still expecting them January 8th-10th. https://t.co/UV43sydHNz

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) January 4, 2024

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Users of #BTCMTX need only an #Ethereum compatible wallet such as #MetaMask, making things very simple.🔐 pic.twitter.com/XJmuATMaXW

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