Hashdex Proposes Bitcoin ETF App Futures With Spot Bitcoin Assets To US SEC

Hashdex is entering a competition to get a place in Bitcoin's exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. (photo: hashdex.com)

JAKARTA - The crypto asset management company, Hashdex, has entered a competition to get a place in the Bitcoin exchange-trained fund (ETF) in the United States. The company has submitted an application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the Bitcoin future ETF which will hold the Bitcoin spot assets.

ETFs are investment funds traded on stock exchanges, with their value coming from underlying sets of assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and other financial instruments. Similarly, Bitcoin ETF tracks BTC value and is traded on traditional stock exchanges rather than crypto exchanges.

Speculation mounts about the prospects of a spot #BitcoinETF being approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (#SEC) 🇺🇸, but what's the big deal?CIO @SamirKerbage breaks down everything you need to know on the Spot Bitcoin ETF opportunity ⚡️: https://t.co/VMa25hiOB6

— Hashdex (@hashdex) August 25, 2023

Speculation mounts about the prospects of a spot #BitcoinETF being approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (#SEC) 🇺🇸, but what's the big deal?CIO @SamirKerbage breaks down everything you need to know on the Spot Bitcoin ETF opportunity ⚡️: https://t.co/VMa25hiOB6

Hashdex's approach differs from recent submissions because it does not rely on Coinbase's supervisory sharing agreement, but rather acquires spot Bitcoin assets from physical exchanges on the CME market. According to NYSE's 19b-4 submission to the US SEC, Hashdex intends to include a Bitcoin spot asset in its Bitcoin futures ETF and change its name, changing its ticker to an ETF Bitcoin Hashdex.

Several experts have responded to Hashdex's unique Bitcoin ETF filing. James Seyffart, an analyst at Bloomberg, observed that this strategy involves exclusively making exchange-related position transactions. This involves exchanging futures contracts with an equivalent spot exposure instead of buying cash directly from the exchange.

Seyffart estimates possible higher SEC approvals, given the pressure on Gary Gensler stemming from Grayscale's lawsuit, Ethereum futures submissions, and the merger of Coinbase's flagship sharing agreement by BlackRock.

Other specialists, including Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, investor target Milne, and financial lawyer Scott Johnsson, have responded to Hashdex's Bitcoin ETF filing. They believe that this could reduce certain SEC concerns about Bitcoin's market manipulation and liquidity.

The SEC and its chairman, Gary Gensler, have yet to comment on the Bitcoin spot ETF application, the Ethereum ETF spike, and the potential approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF this year.