Leading Global Asset Management Firm Invesco Reapplies for Bitcoin ETF

Investment management company Invesco (IVZ), which has $1.4 trillion assets under management, reapplied for a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in conjunction with Galaxy Digital.

The move comes after TradFi giant BlackRock filed for an spot ETF last week, which shook up the market. Another peer, WisdomTree, also refiled for an spot ETF on Tuesday, after getting rejected by the SEC in 2022.

Invesco first filed for a bitcoin ETF in In 2021 - also with Galaxy. It also filed for a bitcoin futures ETF, but dropped the effort in October 2021 after a futures ETF by ProShares was approved and began trading first.

In its filing, Invesco argued that the lack of a spot bitcoin ETF pushes investors towards riskier alternatives, as seen in insolvencies like FTX, Celsius Network, BlockFi, and Voyager Digital Holdings.

Invesco also emphasized the need for investor protection, saying that approval for such a spot bitcoin ETF hinges on a surveillance sharing agreement with a significant, regulated market, not on the regulation of the spot bitcoin market itself.

Surveillance-sharing agreements facilitate the exchange of information concerning market trading activity, clearing processes, and customer identification, which would significantly reduce the potential for market manipulation – something the Securities and Exchange Commission is very concerned about.

BlackRock (BLK), in its filing, advocated for the same thing, argued that Nasdaq could be brought in to fill this role.

“The SEC is very concerned with market manipulation related to Bitcoin prices, and has cited this in almost, if not all, previous rejections,” Graeme Moore, Head of Tokenization, at the Polymesh Association, said earlier to CoinDesk. “This is because the SEC’s view is that Coinbase and others are not regulated as exchanges and therefore cannot be trusted to ‘prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices’.”

So far, the SEC hasn’t given any indication as to when it plans to make an announcement regarding a bitcoin ETF.

Grayscale (which, for now, currently shares common ownership with CoinDesk in Digital Currency Group) has sued the SEC over its rejected bitcoin spot ETF. Speaking at CoinDesk’s Consensus conference in Austin, GrayScale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said he expects a decision in the case by September.

UPDATE (June 21, 13:07 UTC): Clarifies Galaxy Digital's involvement with Invesco, adds WidsomTree's ETF re-application.