Invesco files to launch Bitcoin ETF; expert surprised by the circumstances

One of the largest American investment firms, Invesco, filed an application to create an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on a Bitcoin strategy. Bloomberg ETF senior analyst Eric Balchunas noted the circumstances were unusual.

Invesco filing for a Bitcoin Strategy ETF under 40 Act (to satisfy Gensler) that will hold futures, $GBTC and Canada bitcoin ETFs. Rare 6am filing = rushed it out. Won’t be surprised if we see 5-10 of these by Friday night. pic.twitter.com/S0pMtOKwYJ

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 5, 2021

The product will track futures quotes for the first cryptocurrency, Canadian Bitcoin ETFs, and the shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

The filing was made under the 1940 Investment Company Act to meet the requirements of the SEC Gary Gensler, Balchunas suggested.

The expert was surprised by the unusual haste with which the prospectus was filed—the filing took place at 6 a.m. In his view, this reflects Invesco’s expectation that 5–10 similar filings could appear by the end of the week.

Earlier in July, the SEC postponed consideration of applications to launch bitcoin ETFs from SkyBridge Capital. In June, a similar decision was made regarding proposals from VanEck, Kryptoin Investment Advisor and Valkyrie.

However, Coinbase optimistically assessed the prospects for approval in the United States of an ETF based on the first cryptocurrency in either the current year or 2022. One of the favorable factors they cited was the new leadership of the SEC headed by Gensler.

However, in early August during the Aspen Security Forum 202 he stated that the regulator is considering the possibility of imposing a strict oversight regime to protect investors in the cryptocurrency market.

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