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Bitcoin ETF contenders have until today to file last-minute changes to their applications and clear what may be the final hurdle for approval: authorized participant agreements.

The authorized participant for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is the organization that works with the issuer of the investment vehicle to create and redeem shares of a fund so that an investor can cash out.

And after months of back and forth meetings between asset fund managers and the SEC, this now appears to be the final part of the application process.

The SEC last week set a deadline of December 29 for Bitcoin ETF contenders to file any changes to their applications, according to Reuters. Among the various amendments filed in recent weeks from top contenders like BlackRock and Cathie Woods ARK Invest, two key details have emerged: the SEC appears to be requiring that Bitcoin ETFs follow a cash model, meaning new funds are created with cash and not Bitcoin, and that they have authorized participant agreements in place.

Any applicant that fails to file an amendment by today that includes both of these provisions may be excluded from the Bitcoin ETF race, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

In a Friday post on X (formerly Twitter), Balchunas said he expects some authorized participants to be named todaybut added that it was more likely to take place just days before the launch of a Bitcoin ETF. Notably, ARK Invest and 21 Shares filed an amendment yesterday to include mention of authorized participant agreements but did not name the AP.

Experts expect a spot Bitcoin ETF to get approval in the new year. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts have said that by January 10, there is a 90% chance one will start trading.

An ETF is an investment vehicle that tracks the value of an underlying asset, like gold, foreign currencies, or Bitcoin. A spot Bitcoin ETF is an investment fund that allows people to get exposure to the digital coin by buying shares that track the price of Bitcoin.

Investment firms have been applying for a Bitcoin ETF since 2013, only to face rejection from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has cited concerns about market manipulation as reasons for not allowing such a product to exist in the States.

But major Wall Street playersincluding the worlds biggest asset manager BlackRockthis year applied to the top regulator to release their own product. The SEC now has a long-list of applications from the likes of VanEck, Grayscale, and WisdomTree to review.

The flurry of high-profile applicants has led market analysts to predict that the SEC will soon give the green light to such a product, which would allow traditional investors to get exposure to cryptocurrencies in a safe and regulated way.

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Bitcoin ETF Race Could Get Tighter After This Deadline - Decrypt

Crypto assets have enjoyed a stellar 2023 and the new year could bring even more joy through the approval of the first batch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Two filings Tuesday from one potential issuer Grayscale Bitcoin Trust appear to move that closer to a reality.

Grayscale filed an amendment to its ETF application, a concession that should improve its chances of approval. Chairman Barry Silbert will also step down from Jan. 1, along with fellow board member Mark Murphy. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set a deadline of Dec. 29 for issuers to amend their applications and the flurry of activity ahead of that date is being welcomed by crypto investors.

Its been quite the year for crypto. Bitcoin prices plumbed a multiyear trough and broker Coinbase Global s stock hit a record low in early January 2023, in the depths of a brutal bear market. Bitcoin has since soared more than 150% higher, returning to levels not seen since before the worst of the 2022 selloff, and Coinbase shares have almost quintupled.

The rally really began over the summer, when BlackRock and other financial stalwarts filed for spot Bitcoin ETFs, and legal momentum built behind hopes that the SEC would approve them.

These ETFs are expected to usher in a fresh wave of investor interest. Add into the mix the so-called halvinga change to Bitcoins programmatic monetary policy that should cut token issuance next yearand gains could be supercharged.

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That traders now expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates multiple times in 2024 hasnt hurt, either. Cryptos still tend to trade like stocks and other risk-sensitive assets, and rate cuts would be another tailwind.

The SEC could approve the first spot Bitcoin ETF in early January. The halving is anticipated to come around April. While some analysts are doubtful Bitcoin can keep climbingthis is all priced in, they saythere is no doubt the first half of 2024 will be full of crypto catalysts.

Jack Denton and Callum Keown

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Apples hopes that a recent ruling banning it from selling several models of the Apple Watch in the U.S. could be overturned were dashed by the Biden Administration Tuesday. The issue was centered on a patent-infringement issue.

Whats Next: Apple said it is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to resume sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, and has submitted a proposed redesign for both models for U.S. regulatory approval.

Eric J. Savitz

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U.S. home prices rose at a 4.8% annual rate in October, the fastest such gain since December 2022, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices reported. Home prices in 20 major cities and the broader national index are at all-time highs.

Whats Next: With mortgage rates dropping, demand for homes in early 2024 is likely to be strong and will again put pressure on prices, CoreLogic chief economist Selma Hepp said. She expects most markets will reach new home-price highs in 2024, MarketWatch reported.

Janet H. Cho

Biotech M&A is back in a big way. Bristol Myers Squibb will acquire radiopharmaceutical therapeutics company RayzeBio

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Whats Next: High interest rates are probably what caused the slow start to the year. Its not a coincidence that the turnaround in the sector has come just as conditions began to turn right for the Federal Reserve to consider rate cuts instead of hikes. Many biotech stocks, particularly small ones, are reliant on borrowed capital to conduct research as they look for the next big blockbuster drug.

Ben Levisohn, Joe Woelfel, and Angela Palumbo

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Americans spent 3.1% more this holiday season than they did last year, excluding car sales, according to preliminary data from Mastercard SpendingPulse. Healthy job creation and easing inflation pressures empowered consumers to shell out between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24.

Whats Next: Retailers have seen an uptick in return fraud, comprising $101 billion in overall losses, including wardrobing, or returning used, non-defective merchandise; returning goods bought with fraudulent or stolen tender; and returned items from organized retail crime groups, the NRF said.

Janet H. Cho

Newsletter edited by Zoe Szathmary, Patrick ODonnell, Rupert Steiner

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Bitcoin Reversed Its Fortunes in 2023. Why Crypto Could Climb Higher in 2024. - Barron's

One of Cathie Woods exchange-traded funds has sold all its holdings of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust over uncertainty around whether the trusts conversion to an ETF would be approved.

Woods ARK Next Generation Internet ETF ARKW sold its remaining 2.25 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC on Wednesday and bought 4.32 million shares of ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO, which is based on bitcoin futures, according to the funds daily updates.

The move happens ahead of a Jan. 10 deadline for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make a decision on the spot bitcoin ETF application filed by Woods ARK Investment Management and 21 Shares.

Several other bitcoin ETF applications filed by BlackRock BLK, -0.32%, Fidelity , Invesco IVZ, -1.27%, VanEck and others are also pending the SECs approval.

Many market participants expect the SEC to approve ARKs bitcoin ETF and other similar products by the deadline.

Still, Wood said ARKW sold its Grayscale holdings out of an abundance of caution, as they are not sure if the conversion would be approved in early January. Its just a moment of uncertainty between now and January 8th to 10th, Wood told Bloomberg TV in an interview.

In August, a federal appeals court ordered the SEC to vacate its rejection ofGrayscales conversion into a bitcoin ETF.

Wood said ARKW chose to maintain its exposure to bitcoin through BITO for now, as there are tax and regulatory uncertainties facing spot bitcoin ETF applications.We dont know exactly whos going to be approved and whether theyve met all the criteria that the SEC has put before us, Wood said.

Grayscales Barry Silbert on Tuesday resigned as chair, the company saidinregulatory filing without disclosing reasons.

However, Wood said bitcoins rally this year and the reduction of the gap between GBTCs price with its net asset value meant double good news for ARK. GBTCs discount to its net asset value, or the price of its bitcoin holdings, narrowed to around 6.9% on Wednesday from over 40% in June.

Bitcoin has surged over 160% so far this year, while still down almost 40% from its peak in 2021, according to CoinDesk data.

As traders position for a spot bitcoin ETF approval, MicroStrategy on Wednesday acquired an additional 14,620 bitcoin for about $615.7 million, pushing its total bitcoin holdings to about 189,150, according to the companys chief executive, Michael Saylor.

Read the rest here:
Cathie Wood dumps Grayscale and buys bitcoin-futures ETF. Here's why. - MarketWatch

Crypto investors of all sorts are patiently waiting on spot bitcoin ETF approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, with the price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) soaring in anticipation of the potential sign off. Dinara Co-Founder & CEO Laurence Latimer joins Yahoo Finance to discuss what would happen both immediately, and down the line, if the ETF is approved and how other cryptocurrencies can benefit from it.

Latimer believes "it would be a massive event for the industry" and that it would be a "great support for the institutionalization of digital assets and the mainstreaming of digital assets, widespread adoption." However, he also believes that "much of the price movement has largely been priced in" and that there is some "frothiness" in bitcoin prices.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

JARED BLIKRE: As the markets price in rate cuts into the new year, those in crypto are betting big money on a spot Bitcoin ETF and it becoming a reality as the SEC gives companies a new deadline of December 29 to make final changes to their applications. The new deadline has led many industry watchers to predict a wave of approvals come January, but not necessarily news there. Bitcoin is now trading above $42,000, reaching levels this month we haven't seen since April of 2022.

And for his take on what is coming next for crypto, let's bring in Laurence Latimer, the co-founder and CEO of Dinara, a crypto-trading platform. Laurence, thank you for coming in here today. So what is the importance of this spot Bitcoin ETF? I've been tracking this for months. I've been seeing the enthusiasm. But I guess the big question is when we get this finally maybe on January 10, is it a sell-the-news event?

LAURENCE LATIMER: Yeah, and I thank you for having me. First of all, as we come down to thinking about what's happening for the Bitcoin approvals-- Bitcoin ETF approvals, the reality is much of the enthusiasm, as you just said, much of the attention has-- and much of the price movement has largely been priced in. That's what we think here at Dinara, and that's certainly what we believe.

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It's going to be a massive event for the industry. The work that's gone into that from some of the largest firms in the industry has been happening over two-- some of them over two years. So it is a really massive event. It's a great sort of support for the institutionalization of digital assets and the mainstreaming of digital assets, widespread adoption. But we do think there's maybe a little bit of frothiness there and that the kind of price movement that many are expecting to see may already be mostly priced in.

BRAD SMITH: And so with that in mind, do you think about the perhaps tail, the longer tail of it? We'll see a jump, perhaps, early on in inflows into some of these ETFs, but then what after that? What is perhaps a good baseline for us to consider looking at the amount of flows that actually make their way into one of the riskier parts of the asset classes out there?

LAURENCE LATIMER: Yeah, well, you know, we made some predictions for 2024, and so this sort of falls firmly in the space there. We think that there's going to be some real meaningful appreciation across the whole industry. In October, the overall market cap for digital assets sat at around $1 trillion. It's now about $1.6 trillion. We think by the end of 2025, you'll be sitting at about $2.5 trillion in overall market cap. So if you kind of averaged that across the industry, we think there's another 50% or so upside built into the, you know, pricing of all assets. We think Bitcoin's among them.

What we'll see is that ETF demand that's created there will put a nice floor and support for price movement. We also think there's some optimism around the legislative front. We hope to see some thoughtful legislative action at some point in 2024 as well. That will, again, put some upward pressure.

And then you have Bitcoin halving, which is a technical piece that's happening, I believe, in April. And that traditionally has also put some upward pressure on the price of the asset.

Read more from the original source:
Bitcoin has already priced in spot ETF approval: Expert - Yahoo Finance