FX.co ★ BlackRock to seed its spot Bitcoin ETF with $10 million

Asset management giant BlackRock has amended its filing for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Now the firm plans to seed this investment product with $10 million.

This financial commitment is part of BlackRock’s preparatory work for a projected ETF launch, which is subject to approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffarth, the world’s largest asset manager will launch a spot BTC ETF after buying $10 million worth of coins.

On October 27, 2023, an unknown large investor purchased 4,000 BTC ETF seed shares at a pre-share price of $25. The transaction totaled $100,000. On January 3, 2024, the investor intends to exchange the seed shares for fiat money. Later on, the major player in the crypto market plans to purchase the Seed Creation Baskets, consisting of 400,000 units at $25 apiece. Thus, the transaction will amount to $10 million. After that, BlackRock employees will invest the received funds in BTC.

Notably, BlackRock representatives met with SEC officials to discuss issues related to cryptocurrency derivatives six times last year. As a result, the company amended its registration statement for a spot Bitcoin ETF three times. Now the final decision rests with the regulator. The SEC is set to either approve or reject the filing by January 10, 2024.