Valkyrie’s approval came after using a different exchange act application, which helped Teucrium get the green light for its similar product.Read MoreFeedzy
Valkyrie’s XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund is the latest crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) to win approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Valkyrie filed its application using the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, filing a 19b-4 form with the SEC. Most of the previously-approved bitcoin futures ETFs filed by other companies were under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which follows a slightly different regulatory pathway to approval. Valkyrie is the second ETF to win approval with the older law, following Teucrium. Both companies also filed under the so-called “33 Act.”
In a filing dated Thursday, the SEC said it sees it as “unlikely that trading in the proposed ETP would be the predominant influence on prices in the CME bitcoin futures market.” In the Teucrium order, the Commission said that the CME bitcoin futures market has sufficiently developed to support ETPs seeking exposure to bitcoin by holding CME bitcoin futures contracts.
Spot bitcoin ETF applications are uniformly filed under the “33 Act,” and have been dismissed without exception by the SEC as being too risky for investors for various reasons. The approval of what is now two 33 Act bitcoin futures ETFs will raise industry hopes that a spot bitcoin ETF approval isn’t far behind.
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