Fidelity Continues Its Push to Launch a Bitcoin Trust With Seventh Applicant This Year

Fidelity Investments Submits Request for Bitcoin ETF

Fidelity Investments, a manager of assets, has submitted a request for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, as revealed in a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated June 19.

Fidelity’s application follows BlackRock’s June 15 filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF, as well as those of WisdomTree, Invesco, and Valkyrie in the days after. According to Bloomberg, seven applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF have been made this year. Similar to WisdomTree and Invesco, Fidelity is attempting a second go at a spot BTC ETF. This filing, like the others, claims that the CME Bitcoin Futures market “demonstrates a regulated market of significant size in relation to the spot bitcoin market”; it then goes on to provide an in-depth analysis with research to back its viewpoint. The application is 193 pages in length and states:

The article further discussed FTX, Celsius, BlockFi and Voyager Digital as more hazardous options in the past. It also suggested that investors may purchase stocks in companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy – which have no direct link to BTC but have substantial BTC investments – to acquire BTC exposure.

MicroStrategy’s stock price has seen a more than twofold increase in 2023 in tandem with Bitcoin.

Fidelity Digital Assets Services, which is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services and holds a license as a custodian, will be in charge of safeguarding the trust’s BTC. Additionally, Cboe BZX declared that it would enter into an arrangement of surveillance-sharing with a crypto exchange based in the United States.

The SEC has not yet given the go-ahead to any application for a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Fidelity’s 19b-4 form showed that the company is bringing back its Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust product, which it applied for in March 2021. Unfortunately, the request was denied after two extensions of consideration.

Fidelity holds approximately $11 trillion in assets under its management.

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