BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, announced important new information about the spot Bitcoin ETF for which it has applied. The identities of the intended authorized participants were disclosed as JPMorgan Securities and Jane Street. This information was part of a statement on Friday that also said these organizations would be leveraged if the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approves the proposed fund.
Authorized participants, or APs for short, are entities that have permission to create and redeem shares of an ETF. These entities may exchange ETF shares for a corresponding group of securities that reflect the ETF's assets or exchange them for cash.
ETF watchers, including Bloomberg Intelligence analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, are keeping a close eye on the new S-1s to see which firms are selected as APs. This statement is seen as one of the last steps before the SEC makes its decision.
According to Bloomberg, BlackRock is Now the First to the Starting Line in the Bitcoin Spot ETF Race
Balchunas commented on the update as follows:
“BlackRock just released its updated S-1 and names the APs: Jane Street and JPMorgan (which is a bit ironic). It looks like our first horse is at the starting gate.”
Interestingly, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has previously referred to Bitcoin as an “overrated scam” and “even worse than the tulip bubble,” is set to become an authorized participant in the largest Bitcoin ETF, which will soon be approved by Gary Gensler. Considering Dimon's past negative statements about Bitcoin, this development has attracted a lot of attention from the cryptocurrency community.
*This is not investment advice.
