Four aspiring spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers, namely VanEck, Fidelity, Grayscale, ARK21, Bitwise, and Valkyrie, filed their Form 8-A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which, according to an ETF analyst, could indicate that the regulator's decision on the crypto investment vehicle is "pretty much imminent."
Several hopeful spot Bitcoin ETF issuers are vying to introduce the crypto investment vehicle in the U.S., including BlackRock, ARK 21 Shares, VanEck, Bitwise, Grayscale, Hashdex, Valkyrie, Fidelity, Invesco, WisdomTree and Franklin Templeton.
Among these aspirants, only Fidelity, Grayscale, VanEck, ARK21, Bitwise, and Valkyrie had filed their Form 8-A with the SEC as of 3:38 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Form 8-A is a significant document companies utilize to register securities before their public offering listing, typically done upon ETF approval.
Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, in response to a tweet by Grayscale's chief legal officer, concurred that spot Bitcoin ETF approval is "pretty much imminent," though he clarified that filing Form 8-A does not equate to approval.
"Pretty much imminent, yes. That said, 8-A forms don't equal approval (which is why I'm not tweeting about them), but they are part of the normal prep process so that's good," the ETF analyst said in a tweet.
Pretty much imminent yes. that said, 8-A forms don’t equal approval (which is why I’m not tweeting about them) but they part of the normal prep process so that’s good
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 4, 2024
Another Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst, James Seyffart, echoed similar sentiments regarding the Form 8-A filings of spot Bitcoin ETF issuers, emphasizing that these filings do not imply immediate approval, using Bitwise's filing as an example.
"This is @BitwiseInvest's from last Friday. These need to be done before launch. But they don't mean they're approved or anything — yet," Seyffart clarified in another tweet.
Wasn't gonna say anything but saw some takes about this meaning its already approved and about 5,000 questions. But h/t to @FulcrumNews_ & @btcNLNico for flagging.
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) January 3, 2024
Finance lawyer Scott Johnson supported the views of BI ETF analysts, describing the Form 8-A filing as part of the "mundane legal paperwork."
"Right '34 Act registration form contingent on the effectiveness of S-1 (which is contingent on 19b-4 approval). Mundane legal paperwork," Johnson explained.
Right '34 Act registration form contingent on effectiveness of S-1 (which is contingent on 19b-4 approval). Mundane legal paperwork.
— Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson) January 3, 2024
The recent developments in the spot Bitcoin ETF issuer applications and the speculation about an imminent approval announcement continued to fuel excitement surrounding the crypto investment vehicle, translating into positive market sentiment toward Bitcoin.
The world's oldest and largest crypto asset by market capitalization was trading in the green zone at $44,024.35, retracing its price late Sunday.
Bitcoin's 24-hour trading volume decreased by 40.26% to $27,999,487,822. As of 3:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, Bitcoin witnessed a 3.30% surge in its value for the day and a 3.33% gain over the last seven days.
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin's current circulating supply stands at 19,589,743 BTC, and its market cap is at $19,589,743 BTC.
