In the latest within a growing trend, SkyBridge Capital has filed for regulatory approval with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
In an S-1 filing dated on March 19, the firm. run by former White House communications director and recent bitcoin convert Anthony Scaramucci, applied to be to offer the product to be called The First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust.
According to the filing, the investment objective of the trust is “to reflect the performance of bitcoin less [its] liabilities and expenses.” It would seek to hold as close to 100 percent of its net assets in bitcoin as possible.
SkyBridge is just the latest group to file for regulatory approval to offer a bitcoin ETF in the U.S., which no group has received to date. In recent weeks, Valkyrie Digital Assets, Cboe Global Markets and NYDIG have all made similar filings with the SEC. In Canada, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF recently became the first North American bitcoin ETF on the market, quickly breaking records.
Last week, a Brazilian firm announced that it had received approval to offer the first bitcoin ETF in Latin America.
If and when a similar product hits the U.S. market, it’s almost sure to draw massive interest.