Swiss asset manager Pando Asset has surprisingly entered the competition for a Bitcoin spot market exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, joining the race later than many other contenders.
Concurrently, the investment behemoth BlackRock held discussions with China's securities regulator, aiming to introduce an updated ETF model in response to feedback received from the regulatory authority.
On November 29, Pando submitted Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to register the Pando Asset Spot Bitcoin Trust as a security.
Similar to other ETF applications, the trust's objective is to mirror Bitcoin's price movements by holding the cryptocurrency on behalf of the trust. This will be managed through the custody services offered by the popular cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase.
Pando joins a competitive field as the 13th U.S. entity applying for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF. The firm is vying against more than a dozen other companies in this pursuit, including prominent names like BlackRock, ARK Invest, and Grayscale. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas expressed curiosity about Pando's late filing, raising questions about its timing and the potential impact on fair competition within the market and society at large.
Balchunas and Bloomberg's ETF analyst James Seyffart anticipate January 10 as a crucial date for the immediate approval of all spot Bitcoin ETFs. This deadline coincides with the SEC's decision-making timeframe for ARK Invest's application.
Meanwhile, the SEC held meetings with BlackRock and Invesco executives on November 28 to discuss their ETF proposals. BlackRock has revised its redemption model in response to concerns raised by the SEC, particularly regarding the impact on balance sheets and risks for U.S. broker-dealers dealing with offshore crypto entities. The revision aims to address these concerns by ensuring that U.S.-registered broker-dealers, unable to directly handle Bitcoin, are not involved in offshore Bitcoin transactions. The SEC requires ETFs to have a redemption model to prevent broker-dealers from using unregistered subsidiaries or third-party entities for Bitcoin transactions, as highlighted in a November 17 article by Balchunas.
