Summary:
- Valkyrie refiled its application for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the SEC per a 19b-4 filing seen on Wednesday.
- The asset manager joins other Wall Street titans like BlackRock and Fidelity in filing a second application after the SEC responded.
- Valkyrie, like other asset managers, names Coinbase as its partner for the contentious surveillance-sharing agreement meant to tackle market manipulation.
Trillion-dollar asset manager Valkyrie Digital Assets submitted another application for a spot Bitcoin ETF after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected previous attempts, saying that the filings did not address market manipulation concerns or meet the regulator’s requirements.
Valkyrie’s 19b-4 filing with the SEC names crypto exchange Coinbase as its partner for a contentious surveillance-sharing agreement. Notably, other issuers like BlackRock and Fidelity named Coinbase as their surveillance partners as well despite a hanging lawsuit against the exchange from America’s top securities regulator.
The asset manager argued its case for choosing Coinbase as its partner, noting that Nasqad previously executed a term sheet with the crypto exchange noted as the largest virtual currency trading venue in the U.S.
If approved by the SEC, Valkyrie would boast three separate exchange-traded funds that are tied to Bitcoin. In May 2022, the SEC approved Valkyrie’s Bitcoin futures ETF application that allows the company to offer two ETFs to investors.
Spot Bitcoin ETF Wars
Valkyrie is the latest wall street firm to enter the spot Bitcoin ETF frenzy as issuers race toward being the first to market with the product. Spot Bitcoin ETF will allow issuers to offer a fund that directly invests in Bitcoin.
BlackRock, Fidelity, 21 Shares/ARK Invest, Bitwise, WisdomTree, Invesco, VanECK, and Valkyrie have all filed for spot Bitcoin ETFs with the SEC, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart confirmed. BlackRock’s June 15 filing seemingly galvanized a wave of applications. The filing also reportedly buoyed Bitcoin’s price above 30,000.
Since BlackRock’s filing, Grayscale’s GBTC shares are up 57% and the net asset value (NAV) discount has narrowed by around 30%, per data from The Block.
