Valkyrie gets green light for BTC futures ETF filed under ’33 Act

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved another BTC futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) under the so-called ’33 Act. In a newly disclosed filing, the SEC approved Valkyrie’s XBTO BTC Futures Fund to list on the Nasdaq Stock exchange as an ETF. 

In the order, the SEC explained that the application had met all its consumer protection requirements and hence could be listed on the regulated exchange. The fund tracks the BTC futures contracts. The SEC order said:

“This approval order is based on all of the Exchange’s representations and description of the Trust, including those set forth above and in Amendment No. 2.… IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Exchange Act,104 that proposed rule change SR-NASDAQ-2021-066, as modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, be, and hereby is, approved.” 

Valkyrie’s application for the ETF, filed last August, was approved under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933. This makes it only the second digital currency ETF to be approved under the said act. The first is Teucrium’s BTC futures ETF which was approved to be listed on the NYSE Arca exchange. 

Is there hope for a spot BTC ETF soon? 

Remarkably, the fact that the ‘33 Act is the same act under which all the BTC spot settled ETFs are filed has raised hopes that the SEC may soon approve one a physical BTC-backed ETF.   

According to Bloomberg’s ETF analyst James Seyffart, the SEC’s approval of BTC futures ETFs under the Securities Exchange Act could hinder some of its arguments against spot ETFs. 

However, CNBC reports that while the approval of BTC ETFs under the securities act could pave the way for digital currency spot ETFs to be approved, the SEC is not likely to give in without a fight. 

Sal Gilbertie, CEO of Teucrium, pointed out to the news outlet that the SEC has spelled out its requirements for approving a spot BTC ETF which include that digital currency exchanges agree to surveillance sharing. So far claims that no application has met the standard. 

“They’ve clearly spelled out that if the crypto exchanges… institute those comprehensive surveillance agreements with the ETF listing exchanges, they will get a crypto spot ETF,” he explained. 

This is the biggest stumbling block to the industry getting its wishes he noted. So far, the SEC has rejected all applications for BTC spot ETFs, with several spot BTC ETF applications including filings from NYDIG, and Fidelity have been dismissed by the regulator. 

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