Wealth management and financial advisory firm Cetera has approved four U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds for its network of 9,000 experts.
BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, Franklin Templeton’s EZBC and Invesco’s BTCO were selected because of the providers’ track record of successfully launching new product strategies with the necessary resources, tools and knowledge, according to a company statement Thursday.
The new policy regarding the use of spot Bitcoin ETFs in brokerage accounts includes training resources designed to help financial professionals advise clients to add funds to their investment portfolios, with training starting March 25.
“Financial advisory firms are now issuing press releases about the use of Bitcoin ETFs,” ETF Store president Nate Geraci wrote for X in response to the news. “In other words, it is an attempt to use Bitcoin ETFs as a point of differentiation/competitive advantage. “Things are getting rough.”
Cetera claims to be one of the first asset management companies to develop a formal Bitcoin policy. “Exponentially” more investors are exploring the product and seeking exposure to cryptocurrencies, he added. Cetera estimates that about 50 million people own Bitcoin as of February 2024.
“As expected, we are cautiously embracing Bitcoin ETFs and are prioritizing developing important guidance to help financial professionals implement these products in their client portfolios,” Matt Fries, head of investment products and partner solutions at Cetera, said in a statement. “We ranked them,” he said.
“We will actively evaluate the impact of Bitcoin ETFs and related products and revise our policies accordingly, and we look forward to working with financial professionals to drive adoption of Bitcoin ETFs for our clients,” Fries added. .
Bitcoin ETF likely to see two ‘huge catalysts’ by year-end
Momentum in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF adoption is expected to see two additional “massive catalysts” by the end of this year, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas told The Block earlier this week.
First, Balchunas suggested that Bitcoin ETFs will likely become available on large national financial institution platforms in the coming months. He identified the platform as having between $7 trillion and $10 trillion in assets.
Balchunas said the second catalyst would be the launch of options trading based on the Bitcoin ETF, which he expects to be available by September.
Meanwhile, spot ETF inflows slowed on Thursday as Bitcoin fell more than 10% from its all-time high of $73,836, leading to the liquidation of about $278 million from Bitcoin positions over the past 24 hours.
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