SEC accepts Valkyrie spot Bitcoin ETF proposal for review

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the greenlight to Valkyrie’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal for official review.

The ETF which is named ‘BRRR’ entered SEC’s Nasdaq rulemaking list yesterday, 17 July. The listing came just a few days after the entry of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF proposal on 13 July.

Back in January 2021, the financial services firm had proposed listing the Valkyrie Bitcoin Trust on the New York Stock Exchange. This was met with regulatory pushback. However, Valkyrie was still able to launch a futures-based Bitcoin ETF in October 2021.

The second spot Bitcoin ETF proposal to enter the official docket of being considered by the SEC is also Valkyrie’s second attempt to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States.

In the wake of BlackRock’s groundbreaking attempt to establish America’s first spot-based Bitcoin ETF in June, Valkyrie resubmitted its Bitcoin ETF proposal just a few days after. ‘BRRR’, which is the ticker for this ETF, is named after a meme that represents the sound of printing money.

It was not the first time Valkyrie followed BlackRock’s footsteps. A month later, when BlackRock made adjustments to its filing, Valkyrie did the same by adding crypto exchange Coinbase as a so-called ‘surveillance-sharing’ partner.

This was after the SEC flagged flaws in BlackRock’s initial filing. While BlackRock had listed Coinbase Custody Trust Company and BNY Mellon as custodians that would respectively hold on to its ETF’s Bitcoin and cash, Valkyrie simply stated that it “will enter into a custodian agreement” with a qualified custodian.

The regulatory watchdog has allowed the public to submit their feedback on the Valkyrie’s spot Bitcoin ETF proposal during the 21-day comment period, or until 7 August 2023.

This is a part of the comment period, which is one of the steps in the regulatory process. It opens the door to the public and other institutions to submit their opinions on the ETF, where they can comment on its potential impact on the market, investor protection measures, and other relevant factors.

The end of this period will be met with an evaluation of the proposal by the SEC. Before making its decision, it may also request additional information from the applicants.

In an attached notice, SEC deputy secretary Matthew DeLesDernier also noted that the authority also has up to 45 days from the time of publication of the notice in the Federal Register, or within a longer period up to 90 days to approve or disapprove the rule change.

The excitement over spot Bitcoin ETFs ever since BlackRock’s refiling had positively affected the market as leading cryptocurrencies took to the green. However, the latest news has not done much as the cryptocurrency market remained down today, with Bitcoin trading in the red at the time of press. The coin has been down by over 2% in the last seven days.