Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF - Ep. 509

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The SEC has swatted down so many spot bitcoin ETF applications that crypto diehards simply gave up caring. Then comes TradFi giant BlackRock – at the height of the SEC’s crypto crackdown, no less – with an ETF application that has seemingly changed the calculus. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF watcher James Seyffart joins the show to unpack the odds of BlackRock being the first to win approval, and what it would mean for other players in the space chasing down TradFi’s “holy grail.” Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: why the SEC rejected all of the previous bitcoin spot ETF applications what makes the application from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, different what a 19b-4 filing is and how it relates to the BlackRock application whether BlackRock “knows something,” considering the recent enforcement actions against major crypto exchanges why being a first mover is a considerable advantage in the ETF market whether BlackRock choosing Coinbase as a custodian is a risk, given that the SEC is in a legal battle with Coinbase what’s different about a spot bitcoin ETF, and why a bitcoin futures ETF is not enough what are the differences between the applications filed by BlackRock, Invesco, WisdomTree and Valkyrie which are the applications that are most likely to be approved, according to James what the impact will be of Grayscale’s lawsuit against the SEC over the denial of its proposal to convert GBTC to an ETF why James says that Gary Gensler could be thinking like a politician as it relates to spot bitcoin ETFs Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Copilot Money ProtonMail Guest James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Links Previous coverage of Unchained on the topic: Grayscale v. SEC: Who Won This Week’s Hearing? Why Grayscale Is Suing the SEC Over Its Denial of a Bitcoin ETF $5 Billion in AUM: Why Growth at Grayscale Exploded in the Last Quarter Bitwise’s Latest Plans to Get a Bitcoin ETF Approved DCG’s Dilemma: Should It Sell Its GBTC Holdings to Repay Gemini? The Block: BlackRock ETF launch would put pressure on Grayscale's valuation: Bloomberg analyst CoinDesk: A Straightforward Explanation for Why Financial Giants Want to Issue a Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained: Invesco and WisdomTree Follow BlackRock, Reapply for Bitcoin ETFs BlackRock Files for Bitcoin Spot ETF Valkyrie Applies for Bitcoin Spot ETF ‘BRRR’ Reuters: Cboe files with U.S. SEC for third time to list ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF US court questions SEC's rejection of Grayscale's bitcoin fund proposal Barron’s: ETF: Invesco, WisdomTree Join Push. Why It Might Happen. Blockworks: BlackRock, then Bitwise — How the spot bitcoin ETF filings differ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained, your no-hi precursor for all things crypto. I'm your host,
0:08.4	Laura Shin, author of The Crypto Beans. I started coming crypto eight years ago and as a senior
0:13.4	editor of Forbes was the first major meter porter to cover cryptocurrency pull-time. This is the
0:18.0	June 23rd, 2023 episode of Unchained. Secure your crypto accounts with a secure email service.
0:25.6	Proton mail is end-to-end encrypted, meaning that no one, not even proton, can access your emails.
0:31.4	Go to proton.me slash Laura. Co-pilot is a best-in-class personal finance app for Mac and iOS,
0:39.2	designed to give you a complete view of your financial life. Use code Unchained for a free two-month
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0:57.0	link in the description. If you've been enjoying Unchained and find the discussions here
1:01.6	fascinating, mind-blowing, or as crypto tends to be, downright bonkers, please share this
1:07.2	episode with a friend to keep the conversation going. Today's guest is James Safert, research
1:13.2	analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Welcome, James. Hi, Laura. Thanks for having me. Long time
1:18.6	listener. First time caller. Great to have you. Last week, BlackRock, the world's largest asset
1:25.2	manager, filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF. What were the SEC's previous objections to approving spot
1:31.9	Bitcoin ETFs? And how does this application address those concerns? To start, the Winklevoss
1:37.6	twins were the first ones to file for a Bitcoin ETF back in 2013 when Bitcoin was $100.
1:43.3	And basically, over the last decade, we're literally coming up on a decade next month.
1:49.8	There's been, they've whittled away at all of the SEC's concerns, not all of them, but
1:54.0	as far as they're concerned, they've whittled out the key ones. The one thing that the one main
1:58.2	thing that are hung up on in the most recent denial, specifically the gray scale, GPDC application,
2:04.1	last year, they want a regulated spot market, and they want it to be of significant size. Those
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