WisdomTree Joins Bitcoin ETF Race with New Filing
New York fund management company WisdomTree Investments is the latest contender to join the race to launch the first Bitcoin ETF in the United States.
The filed an S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 11th, in hopes of gaining approval for the launch of its Bitcoin ETF on the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s BZX platform under the ticker symbol BTCW. WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust specifies that it plans to act as the trustee of the fund, but did not name any third party for bitcoin custody.
WisdomTree is one of many financial institutions that hope to launch a Bitcoin ETF product in the United States. In February, New York Digital Investment Group filed its application, and VanEck submitted S-1 form to the SEC at the end of 2020. Rumors have been circulating that even major international investment bank Goldman Sachs may be planning to launch a Bitcoin ETF of its own.
The race to launch such a product in the United States began after the recent change in leadership at the SEC. Previously the regulatory agency was led by Jay Clayton — who was very much against the launch of a Bitcoin ETF — but he departed in mid-November. Bitcoin ETF applications came rolling in after it became known that MIT Professor Gary Gensler would take over the vacant spot as SEC chairman this January. Professor Gensler conducts research and teaches on blockchain technology, digital currencies, financial technology, and public policy and was previously the chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.