First Trust Advisors and SkyBridge Capital, the hedge fund run by former White House Communications Director and recent bitcoin convert Anthony Scaramucci, have become the latest firm seeking to offer a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
- In an S-1 filing with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Friday, the firms applied to be able to offer the "First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust." First Advisor would be the adviser to the ETF, and SkyBridge would serve as the sub-adviser. Shares would trade on NYSE Arca, the filing said.
- The two firms are just the latest to file for an ETF. This bull run’s regulatory rush has seen WisdomTree file for a bitcoin ETF in March, NYDIG in February, Valkyrie in January and VanEck in December.
- Grayscale appears to be gearing up for an ETF product of its own. The crypto asset manager might apply for a new one or convert its existing bitcoin Trust into an ETF. The digital asset investment firm is owned by CoinDesk parent company Digital Currency Group.
- The flood of applications comes as the SEC is widely expected to approve the first bitcoin ETF this year.