Registration statement filed for new bitcoin exchange-traded fund from Valkyrie

A registration statement for a new bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) from Valkyrie Digital Assets, public records show.

The firm, a subsidiary of Valkyrie Investments, filed to register the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, a trust that will hold physical bitcoin (which will be held in custody by Coinbase, per the application). The S-1 is dated January 22.

As noted in the registration statement:

THE SCOOP

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"The Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (the “Trust”) is an exchange-traded fund that issues common shares of beneficial interest (the “Shares”), which represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Trust. The Trust’s purpose is to hold bitcoins, which are a digital commodity based on the cryptographic protocols used by the decentralized, peer-to-peer bitcoin computer network. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the value of a bitcoin as represented by the Index (as defined herein), less the Trust’s liabilities and expenses."

The registration statement represents the latest effort in a years-long push to create and list a bitcoin ETF in the United States. In the final days of December, asset manager VanEck renewed its efforts to launch such a product, as previously reported. 

But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has thus far refused to allow a bitcoin ETF to move forward. The first major effort — pursued by Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — was knocked down by agency which cited concerns around market manipulation and a lack of surveillance agreements among exchanges.

More recently, SEC commissioner Hester Peirce has dissented to such objections, arguing at the start of 2020 that the SEC has applied "ever-shifting standards" to proposed bitcoin ETFs.