Fidelity and SEC meet to discuss spot Bitcoin ETF application
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently met with Fidelity to seek additional clarity on its spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.
According to a filing published on December 7, two Cboe BZX Exchange representatives, along with six personnel from the SEC and nine individuals from Fidelity, discussed the workings of the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust in a meeting.
“The discussion concerned Cboe BZX’s proposed rule change to list and trade shares of the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust under Cboe BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4). Fidelity also provided the attached presentation.”
The filing incorporated PowerPoint slides used during the meeting to illustrate the operational framework of the Bitcoin ETF.
“Arbitrage and hedge are more efficient with physical creations,” the filing stated while proposing the most effective strategy to the U.S. regulator:
“Self-clearing ETF market maker firms can facilitate efficient arbitrage in acting as Agency AP for non-self-clearing ETF market maker firms with Crypto Affiliates. Allowing for physical creation and redemption is critical to enhance trading efficiency and secondary market pricing for all participants.”
Fidelity submitted an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF to the SEC on June 19, shortly after BlackRock and several other asset managers filed for the product just days prior.
However, the SEC rejected Fidelity’s application for a spot Bitcoin ETF in 2022.
This comes after recent news that the SEC is meeting with spot Bitcoin ETF applicants to discuss various aspects of applications.
Cointelegraph recently reported that based on industry insider knowledge they were discussing “key technical details” related to U.S. exchanges listing shares of a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Related: Fidelity seeks green light for Ethereum ETF, following BlackRock’s filing
However, memos released by the SEC in November showed the Commission separately met with representatives of BlackRock and Grayscale.
There has been much speculation in recent times over when a spot Bitcoin ETF will be approved.
Hashdex, one of the applicants among the 13 asset managers, anticipates to see the first U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF by the second quarter of 2024.
“The exact timing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. remains unclear, but in 2023, the narrative around this product switched from a question of ‘if’ to a matter of ‘when,’” said Hashdex’s U.S. and Europe head of product Dramane Meite.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart remain confident that January 10 will mark the simultaneous approval of all spot Bitcoin ETFs. This aligns with the SEC’s deadline to either approve or deny ARK Invest’s application.
Politics
Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94
Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.
Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.
One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.
He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.
Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.
“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.
“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.
“May he rest in peace.”
Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA
Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.
“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.
“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.
He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.
Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA
Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.
Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.
Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.
Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.
He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.
Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA
As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.
His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.
He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.
What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.
US House lawmakers have been urged by 65 crypto organizations to pass the CLARITY Act, which would hand most policing of crypto to the CFTC.
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