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BlackRock<\/a>, the world’s biggest asset manager, on Thursday filed for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF<\/a>) that would allow investors to get exposure to the cryptocurrency, as the asset class comes under intense regulatory scrutiny.<\/p>\n BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust will use Coinbase Custody as its custodian, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC<\/a>). The U.S. regulator has yet to approve any applications for spot bitcoin ETFs.<\/p>\n Last year, BlackRock launched a spot bitcoin<\/a> private trust for institutional clients in the United States.<\/p>\n The move comes at a time when the global cryptocurrency industry has been caught in the crosshairs of the US securities regulator on alleged violations of securities laws.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the regulator sued major exchanges Coinbase<\/a> and Binance<\/a> in high-profile lawsuits that reverberated through the digital assets industry.<\/p>\n “The fact that BlackRock, a well-respected and established asset management company, has filed for a Bitcoin ETF could be seen as a positive development in the quest for regulatory approval,” said Joshua Chu, group chief risk officer at blockchain technology group XBE, Coinllectibles and Marvion.<\/p>\n “It also shows resilience of the public’s interest in crypto.”<\/p>\n A spot bitcoin ETF would track bitcoin’s underlying market price. Proponents say an ETF would give investors exposure to bitcoin without directly buying it.<\/p>\n The SEC rejected Grayscale Investment LLC’s application last year to convert its flagship spot Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF.<\/p>\n Grayscale sued the SEC, claiming that the regulator was acting arbitrarily in rejecting applications for spot bitcoin ETFs when it had previously approved bitcoin futures ETFs.<\/p>\n The SEC has also rejected proposals for spot bitcoin ETFs from firms including Fidelity, Cboe Global Markets and NYDIG.<\/p>\n Bitcoin prices closed up 2 percent on Thursday after the announcement. They were last at $25,506 (roughly Rs. 20,88,900) on Friday. The largest cryptocurrency is up 54 percent in the year.<\/p>\n Plans for BlackRock’s ETF were reported by CoinDesk earlier in the day.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Thomson Reuters 2023<\/em><\/p>\n