WisdomTree's Bitcoin ETF filing joins hopefuls vying for approval

Published at: March 12, 2021

New York-based asset manager WisdomTree has filed for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The firm submitted its filing on March 11. It states the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust would trade on Chicago Board Options Exchange’s BZX platform under the ticker BTCW. The trust would offer a regulated way for investors to gain exposure to the price of Bitcoin, and allow speculators to execute trades through their brokers.

Contracts would be settled according to CF Benchmarks’s “CF Bitcoin US Settlement Price,” a price index that tracks the price based on major BTC spot exchanges.

The proposed ETF is not WisdomTree’s first foray into crypto, with the firm currently managing a leading institutional ETH fund.

In June 2020, WisdomTree filed for an ETF that would invest up to 5% of capital into BTC futures contracts, despite the fund being primarily focused on energy, agriculture, and metals. In December 2019, the firm launched a physically-backed Bitcoin exchange-traded product that was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

WisdomTree is not alone in seeking SEC approval for a Bitcoin ETF. Last month, crypto-focused financial services firm NYDIG filed for a Bitcoin ETF, with top U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley among the proposed fund’s authorized participants

Leading exchange-traded product-issuer VanEck filed for its own BTC fund in January, in addition to an ETF tracking the performance of leading crypto firms. Texas-based Valkyrie Digital Assets also filed for a Bitcoin ETF that same month.

However, VanEck’s bid for ETF approval may be impacted by an ongoing lawsuit from its former partner, blockchain tech firm SolidX — with the company accusing VanEck of plagiarizing a product the two firms worked on together during 2018 and 2019.

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