Form 8-A filings filed by Fidelity, Grayscale, and VanEck indicate progress toward the widely expected approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, although the SEC has not yet given approval.
Grayscale Investments and VanEck filed a Form 8-A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan. 4, indicating that the securities have been registered with the watchdog. This is part of a process that will allow the issuer to eventually list its Bitcoin (BTC) ETF on an exchange, if approved by the SEC.
The issuer of the Grayscale BTC Trust (GBTC), which holds about 620,000 BTC worth more than $26 billion, is currently hoping to convert the product into an exchange-traded fund that tracks the spot price of Bitcoin. Once approved, GBTC will trade as a spot BTC ETF on NYSE Arca.
Fidelity filed its Form 8-A a day before Grayscale and VanEck as issuers step up their readiness ahead of the SEC’s deadline for them to accept or reject at least one bid for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
The SEC has set a January 10 deadline for a decision on the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF. Experts say the securities watchdog is likely to approve several filings by the end of the day, giving a 90% chance of approval, according to Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart.
Traders on decentralized prediction platforms like Polymarket have bet more than $1 million worth of bets that the SEC will approve any of the 14 issuers to list spot Bitcoin ETFs by January 15th. The amount is pegged to a Bitcoin ETF approved in January. . The 15” contract rose by more than $600,000 in two days despite a Matrixport report that the SEC may reject all applications in January.