Valkyrie, a crypto fund manager, is seeking to launch a Bitcoin Spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) and has recently joined several other finance firms in submitting applications to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On June 21, Valkyrie filed an S-1 registration form with the SEC for its Bitcoin Spot ETF and stated in the form that it aims to list its fund on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol BRRR.
Valkyrie is an Old Friend in Bitcoin
Valkyrie is no stranger to Bitcoin. In October 2021, it launched the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF), the second Bitcoin futures ETF in the U.S., and launched the Valkyrie Balance Sheet Opportunities (VBB) in December of the same year. Although it liquidated VBB in October 2022, Valkyrie also operates the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI), which tracks the securities of companies that generate revenues or profits from Bitcoin mining.
On May 16, the company filed an application for a Bitcoin futures ETF, to be named the Valkyrie Bitcoin Futures Leveraged Strategy ETF (BTFD). Like the proposed BTC Spot ETF, the BTFD will be a fund rather than a trust.
It appears that Valkyrie has been inspired by the recent activities of its competitors. Valkyrie Investments Chief Investment Officer Steven McClurg stated in a Hashing It Out podcast in March that he believed a BTC ETF would only be possible “in a future administration after the next elections or through legislative action.”
Valkyrie Inspired
However, BlackRock applied to list a BTC Spot ETF as a trust on Nasdaq on June 15. WisdomTree and Invesco made similar applications on June 20. There are unverified reports that Fidelity will also apply for a BTC Spot ETF. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is rapidly rising, with a 6.41% increase at the time of writing.
Despite these applications, the SEC has yet to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF. WisdomTree, Invesco, and BlackRock applied for spot Bitcoin funds last week. The price of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, has surged by 16% over the past week, rising in line with interest. According to Bitcoin market price tracking sites, Bitcoin was trading at $30,114 on Wednesday, up 6.3%.
