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After the 2024 US election, Bitwise and other asset managers seem to have been testing the regulatory waters for previously unapproved spot cryptocurrency ETFs.
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NYSE Arca has filed to list and trade shares of an exchange-traded product offered by asset management firm Bitwise that would hold Bitcoin and Ether.
In a Nov. 26 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bitwise announced its intention to launch trading for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded product on the NYSE Arca with Form S-1 registration statement.
According to the asset manager, the goal would be to “give investors balanced exposure to the two largest crypto assets in the world in an easy-to-access format.”
Bitcoin and Ether ETF announcement. Source: Bitwise
The filing did not suggest a date for the proposed offering to the public other than “as soon as practicable after the effective date” of the Form S-1. According to Bitwise, the ETF’s BTC and ETH holdings will “approximate the relative market capitalization of Bitcoin and Ether to one another.”
It’s unclear if the SEC will approve the crypto product for listing and trading on NYSE Arca. The commission will be under new leadership starting on Jan. 20, when Chair Gary Gensler resigns. The US Senate could confirm a new SEC head nominated by President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office.
SEC under Trump to be more crypto friendly?
Since Trump won the US election on Nov. 5 and Republicans secured enough seats for majority control of the House of Representatives and Senate, many industry leaders have suggested the regulatory environment could be more favorable to crypto starting in 2025. At the time of publication, it was unclear whom the president-elect intended to nominate to replace Gensler.
Related: Solana ETF regulatory filings flood in as Gensler sets departure date
Since the US election, some asset managers have proposed ETFs tied to Hedera (HBAR), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) for the first time, perhaps testing how the SEC could handle different crypto offerings. On Nov. 21, Bitwise filed an S-1 registration for a spot Solana ETF.
The SEC first approved spot BTC ETF offerings from asset managers for listing and trading on US exchanges in January. The regulator followed by greenlighting shares of spot Ether exchange-traded products in May.
Magazine: Is Bitcoin heading back to $90K? Solana ETFs, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 17 – 23
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
