Amended Spot BTC ETF Filings Have No Impact On Approval Dates, WisdomTree Jumps On Amendment Wagon

With major financial players amending spot Bitcoin ETF proposals, delays are seen as common in the path for approval. 

What Happened: Global ETF provider WisdomTree amended its spot Bitcoin ETF prospectus with an S-1 form which stated WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust ETF would trade under a ticker symbol BTCW, with Coinbase Custody Trust serving as the custodian holding all the trust’s Bitcoin on its behalf.

This update comes on the heels of WisdomTree refiling its spot Bitcoin ETF application in June 2023 which had proposed a rule change to list and trade shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust on the BZX Exchange by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).

While Franklin Templeton awaits its first spot Bitcoin ETF deadline on Nov. 17, 2023, Hashdex's earlier deadline of Nov. 17 now has a deadline of Jan. 1, 2024, after the SEC moved it some days ago. Global X has not amended its S-1 filing and is awaiting its second spot Bitcoin ETF deadline on Nov. 21.

In the last week of October, VanEck amended its application for a spot Bitcoin ETF joining a list of many other firms filing amended forms.

What Are Analysts Saying: Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart took to X and said WisdomTree’s updated S-1 form indicated the provider was still planning to launch an ETF and discussed the opportunity with the SEC.

“All issuers were expected to have to file one of these to potentially launch their ETF at some point. Just a step in the process. Nothing critical,” he stated.

Seyffart expected the SEC to implement another round of decision delay for the upcoming deadlines in the future. He went on to add delays would not change his opinion of the 90% likelihood of the SEC approving a spot Bitcoin ETF before the end of January 2024.

Bloomberg ETF expert Eric Balchunas said only two spot Bitcoin ETF filers — Franklin Templeton and Global X — out of a total of 12 firms that have filed for such a product in the U.S. have yet to amend their S-1 filings with the SEC.

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