Fidelity, one of the largest financial service providers in the world, is planning to launch a Bitcoin ETF to expand the company’s digital currency business. The company said that the digital assets ecosystem has grown significantly in the last few years.

According to an official filing, the company is seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust. Fidelity mentioned that the Trust will provide direct exposure to BTC.

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Earlier this month, SkyBridge Capital, a New York-based investment firm, filed to launch a Bitcoin ETF. Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investment banks in the world, also applied for a BTC-related investment product recently.

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There has been a surge in Bitcoin ETF applications in the US. In addition to Fidelity’s recent filing, Morgan Stanley, WisdomTree, VanEck and Valkyrie Digital Assets have also applied for BTC ETFs.

“The Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust provides direct exposure to BTC, and the shares of the Trust are valued on a daily basis using the same methodology used to calculate the Index. The Trust provides investors with the opportunity to access the market for bitcoin through a traditional brokerage account without the potential barriers to entry or risks involved with holding or transferring BTC directly, acquiring it from a Bitcoin spot market, or mining it. The Trust will not invest in derivatives. The Sponsor believes that the shares are designed to provide investors with a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in bitcoin without purchasing, holding and trading BTC directly,” Fidelity mentioned in the official filing.

Several companies around the world, including some of the largest names on Wall Street, have added Bitcoin to their balance sheets. The cryptocurrency has gained the attention of institutional investors. Meitu, a Chinese technology company, recently announced the purchase of $50 million worth of BTC and Ethereum. Earlier this month, Aker ASA, Norway’s $6 billion public company, announced the launch of a dedicated Bitcoin unit to invest in the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Written by: LeftOfCenter, this article thanks Ryan Tian, ​​co-founder and CFO of the on-chain option agreement FinNexus, for his feedback and insights.

Providing financial products and services similar to traditional financial markets for the crypto world is essential to the health and success of the crypto market. SynLev’s goal is to provide leveraged ETFs similar to traditional finance for the crypto world, initially supporting crypto assets, and expanding to stocks, indices, and commodity assets in the future.

The highlight of SynLev is to allow cryptocurrency users to freely create leveraged positions based on specific assets, without margin and without liquidation risk. In order to maintain the stability of the system, SynLev has launched liquid mining rewards and adopted a unique and creative adaptive leverage mechanism and a “purchase reward and sell penalty” mechanism. So, is SynLev worth participating? What are the risks? Please read today’s five-minute series of chain smells.

SynLev is a decentralized leveraged token platform based on Ethereum. It provides an encrypted version of leveraged ETF financial instruments, allowing cryptocurrency traders to go long or short ETH with a leverage of 1.5 to 4.5 times.

Similar to FTX’s leveraged token mechanism , SynLev currently allows users to freely create a default leveraged position of 3 times based on specific encrypted assets, without margin, and there is no liquidation risk. For example, users can use ETH as collateral to cast a BULL token (3X BULL ETH/USD) that is three times longer than ETH. If ETH rises by 1%, ETHBULL will rise by 3%. For every 1% drop in ETH, ETHBULL will fall by 3 %.

However, unlike FTX, SynLev is censorship-resistant, transparent, license-free, and KYC. Compared with spot transactions, this feature is more important for financial derivatives, because the latter involves leveraged delivery, the amount of funds involved The risk is often magnified several times, and once a centralized fraud event occurs, the loss will be even greater.

In addition to decentralization, an important feature of SynLev is that no margin is required, and there is no common leveraged liquidation risk.

How does SynLev achieve these two points?

According to SynLev’s official article, this is mainly achieved through a non-continuous price calculation. The asset price will be synchronized with the latest price update of Chainlink, which will obtain a time delay to readjust the leverage ratio and maintain the leverage ratio at 1.5 to 4.5 times Therefore, even if the price fluctuates sharply, there is no need for margin call and no risk of liquidation to zero.

So, how does SynLev’s unique and creative adaptive lever mechanism work?

SynLev Adaptive Leverage Mechanism <br/>In SynLev, the target leverage (L) refers to the expected leverage of the asset pair, usually 3 times, and the actual leverage (the actual leverage (La) ) may be based on different assets and The specific situation is automatically adjusted, and the actual leverage La depends on the change of the equity ratio K value.

At any time, the actual leverage of a 3 times leveraged token asset will never be higher than 4.5 times, nor will it be lower than 1.5 times.

In order to reduce the pressure on the price of any leveraged asset to zero, SynLev has implemented a loss limit , which stipulates that in any given price cycle, the price of an asset cannot fall by more than 90%.

Purchase reward and selling penalty <br/>In order to improve stability and ensure that the actual leverage (La) is as close as possible to the target leverage (L), the system can adjust the loss limit. In addition, another adjustable parameter is net assets Equity ratio K value, SynLev uses the “Buy Bonuses and Sell Penalties” mechanism to encourage the actual leverage to be equal to the target leverage, so as to ensure that the k value is as close to 1 as possible.

The principle of this mechanism is as follows: When a leveraged token asset is sold and destroyed, resulting in a K value greater than 1, the system will trigger the sell penalty mechanism , and the fine is defined by the following equation 3. All penalties for selling are transferred to an Ebal, which is used for purchase rewards. The selling penalties can vary, and the hard cap is 15%.

In order to obtain these fine rewards, traders will buy and mint the leveraged token assets, thereby pushing the K value back to 1, and the rewards for the buyer are determined by the following equation 4. The amount of buy-in rewards depends on the amount of selling penalties generated.

In other words, the more the equity ratio K of leveraged tokens deviates from the target value 1, the more fines will be generated. At this time, sufficient motivation will be generated to attract traders to buy, thereby reducing the K value Return to the target value of 1.

SynLev allows traders to choose any supported trading pair to deposit ETH to create virtual BULL and BEAR tokens to become liquidity providers. These virtual tokens are deposited in the vault contract to stabilize specific asset pairs. In order to ensure that the liquidity provider will never be bullish or bearish on price trends, whenever liquidity is added or reduced in the pool, the pool will perform a rebalance to maintain the equity ratio of BULL or BEAR tokens at 1:1.

In return, the liquidity provider obtains the corresponding LP share based on the amount of ETH deposited. This share represents the share of the liquidity provider in the total virtual BULL and BEAR tokens. The LP share certificate can be obtained This transaction generates half of the cost of buying and selling transactions, and the earned fees can be withdrawn at any time without eliminating liquidity from the asset pair, as well as 0.2% of all SynLev transaction fees.

The advantage of this is obvious, that is, a single counterparty is not required for leveraged transactions in SynLev. In fact, the counterparty of the BEAR token of a specific asset is the BULL token of the asset plus all the assets of the liquidity provider Net worth, which can greatly reduce the counterparty risk. In addition, the trading pairs of each specific asset are separated, so severe price fluctuations will not affect the liquidity of the entire system.

However , the biggest risk taker in the SynLev system is actually the liquidity provider. Since all liquidity providers share the price of LP shares, once a certain asset fluctuates too much, the amount of bullish and bearish deviates greatly, and the leverage on both sides is different, which will cause the leverage of BULL tokens and BEAR tokens to be different , Which ultimately affects the decline in the price of LP shares, which means that the liquidity provider who acts as a balance bears systematic risks in disguise.

Just like the case demonstration presented by SynLev in the article “SynLev Liquidity Working Principle” , if there are more outstanding Bull Tokens than outstanding Bear Tokens in the market, and the price of ETH increases, the price of LP shares will fall.

In this case, the market sentiment is bullish, and traders will mint more Bull Tokens through SynLev. For example, there are currently 100 ETH outstanding Bull Tokens, 50 ETH outstanding Bear Tokens and 400 ETH liquidity (balanced at a ratio of 1:1 to 200 ETH “Bull Virtual Tokens” and 200 ETH “Bear Virtual Tokens”). At this time, under the Bear Token leverage ratio of 3.3 times, if the price of ETH increases by 1%, the net value of Bear Token will fall by 3.3% (8.25 ETH). At this time, through the leverage mechanism automatically adjusted by SynLev, the net value of Bull tokens increased to 102.75 ETH, the net worth of Bear tokens decreased to 48.35 ETH, and the net value of liquidity decreased to 398.9 ETH (including 206.6 205.5 ETH Bull virtual tokens and 193.4 ETH Bear Virtual tokens). As a result, the price of LP’s equity share fell by 0.275%.

In SynLev, the main function of the liquidity pool is to help real Bull token and Bear token holders stabilize risks and improve their ability to cash out. Although it is a liquidity pool, the LP actually does not participate in the transaction. Bear most of the risks in the system. Once the market’s bullish and bearish sentiments deviate too much, they will passively assume unilateral risks.

At present, only handling fees and mining incentives are far from enough. Only by increasing sufficient incentives, encouraging more traders to participate in liquidity mining, and expanding the asset pool, can this risk be minimized. Probably low.

San Francisco, January 12, 2021 — Bitwise Asset Management, a leading provider of crypto index funds, and ETF Trends, a leading source of exchange-traded fund news, tips, webcasts, and investing ideas, today released the findings of the Bitwise/ETF Trends 2021 Benchmark Survey Of Financial Advisor Attitudes Toward Cryptoassets.

Nearly 1,000 financial advisors answered a series of questions on cryptoassets and their use in client portfolios. Survey respondents included independent registered investment advisors, broker-dealer representatives, financial planners, and wirehouse representatives from across the U.S.

Among the key findings:

“The survey shows it’s still early days for crypto, with less than 10% of advisors allocating today,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer for Bitwise. “At the same time, adoption and interest are growing: The survey suggests the number of advisors allocating could double or more in the year ahead.”

“Financial advisors are increasingly looking for exposure to alternative assets, and interest in crypto is rising,” said Tom Lydon, founder and CEO of ETF Trends. “We’ve also seen a steady progression of interest in crypto from clients of financial advisors in the three years we’ve run this survey together. I see no reason for that to change in the year to come.”

Complete findings of the survey are available in the report here .

The survey for the report was conducted in December 2020.

About Bitwise Asset Management

Bitwise Asset Management is a leading provider of index and beta crypto funds. Based in San Francisco, Bitwise’s team combines expertise in technology with decades of experience in traditional asset management and indexing—coming from firms including Facebook, Google, Wealthfront, BlackRock, Fidelity, Deutsche Bank, IndexIQ, and ETF.com.

Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and asset management executives, and is a frequent commentator on crypto in the press. It has been profiled in Institutional Investor, CNBC, Barron’s, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many other leading publications. The firm is a trusted partner to financial advisors, RIAs, multifamily offices, hedge funds, and other professional investors as they navigate the crypto space.

About ETF Trends

ETF Trends is a trusted source of ETF industry news, insight and analysis to keep investors a step ahead in today’s investing world. Its editorial team and seasoned contributors stay on top of the latest trends in the U.S. and abroad to educate financial advisors and self-directed investors. From new ETF launches to articles on equities, fixed income, and alternatives,

ETF Trends is a wide-ranging financial publication covering every aspect of the ETF universe. With the new addition of ticker research pages to the site, traffic continues its steady rise month by month. ETF Trends publisher Tom Lydon is a frequent commentator on CNBC, Fox Business Network, and Bloomberg, where he shares his expert insight on markets and trends.

Anthony Scaramucci’s Skybridge and First Trust filed late Friday for a bitcoin ETF, adding their names to the list of firms already awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commision.

Scaramucci told Blockworks tonight that he thinks that the SEC will review all the applications in a bunch and make recommended changes for them at the same time. That way “there will be some level of uniformity to the process in America,” he said, adding, “I wanted to get our filing in on time to be considered in that bunching”

In January, SkyBridge Capital, the $9.2 billion fund founded by Anthony Scaramucci, poured $310 million into its first bitcoin fund, claiming the product will serve as the essential middleman between high-stakes investors and Bitcoin.

Scaramucci said that Skybridge told its private fund clients that “we would be converting the private partnership into an ETF pursuant to approval and instructions from the SEC.” 

Crypto assets have gained institutional acceptance in recent months, and the security and guarantee of custody bitcoin ETFs will usher along further adoption. To date, however, the SEC has rejected all bitcoin ETFs save VanEck’s first application which was withdrawn by the firm.

Despite the rejection, new applications are on the rise with at least five firms awaiting approval, including WisdomTree, VanEck, NYDIG Asset Management, Valkyrie Digital Assets, and now Skybridge and First Trust.

Scaramucci said he’s more positive about the SEC approving bitcoin ETFs this time around because ”it’s a trillion dollar market.” In addition, there are conditional factors at play like the successful bitcoin ETFs in Canada which are a good precursor for the American market, he noted.

“But again, it will be up to the SEC,” he said. “I think the decision will be quite binary. It’ll either be we are accepting all five or ten or however many that file, or we’re accepting none. I don’t think they are going to pick and choose. We are basically all using the same councils, and we are all filing pursuant to the guidelines that have been in place for other ETFs.”

In addition, Scarmucci said the American market is ready for bitcoin ETFs. “I think if you look at Canada, which is typically 11% to 12% of the US market, and in a month one of those Canadian ETFs got to a billion dollars. There is a tremendous interest in bitcoin and in my opinion, this is the best structure for clients because it’s liquid.”

Skybridge is working with First Trust on the bitcoin ETF because of the firm’s long history and success with ETF issuance. “We have a very strong relationship with them,” said Scaramucci. “They want to get into the bitcoin space and have a great sales and marketing and distribution team. As this is our first ETF. They’ve been to this rodeo many times so I wanted to leverage their experience and I think they wanted to leverage our experience in the bitcoin space,” he said, adding, “We thought it was a natural marriage.”

As for the fee structure, Scaramucci did not have the specifics yet but said that it will be competitive with other bitcoin ETFs “We won’t make it any higher or lower than our competitors.”

A decision from the SEC is expected in April or May.

At the time of filing, bitcoin was trading at $58,430.12.

Bitcoin price is struggling to get back to the $ 60,000 mark as rising US Treasury rates continue to cause havoc in global financial markets.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart | Source: TradingView

Bitcoin continued to face stiff resistance at $ 60,000 yesterday as the bulls spent the day bouncing back from the early morning drop, which pushed BTC into a range below $ 56,500. in a short time.

After being rejected at $ 60,000 on March 18, Bitcoin’s price hit a low of $ 56,268 in the early hours of Friday before buyers returned to help lift the price back above $ 58,500.

Key figures on Bitcoin price show that despite struggles to get past $ 60,000, top traders are increasingly bullish as evidenced by the proliferation of long positions. leverage over the past week as the BTC trading range gets tighter. Signs of global adoption continued to emerge as the first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America was approved in Brazil, making it the fourth ETF approved in the Western Hemisphere after three ETFs recently launched in Canada.

Chad Steinglass, head of trading at crypto capital market firm CrossTower recently discussed the pressures Bitcoin faces at $ 60,000.

As Steinglass said:

“It will take some time to get past $ 60,000 but the recent strength shown by Bitcoin in the face of strong macro winds shows no reason for the bulls to stop.”

The $ 57,000 to $ 58,000 range is the new level of support Bitcoin needs to hold.

Rising interest rates on the US Treasury continue to put pressure on global financial markets, which ended Friday’s session mixed as traders began to worry about the possibility of rapid inflation. hampering economic recovery and causing the short-term change in the Reserve’s extremely consistent Federal Monetary Policy.

Top altcoins Ether (ETH) continues to face resistance above $ 1,800 with data showing that bulls can wait until the $ 1.15 billion worth of ETH options run out. March 26th for them to give a new performance.

The overall crypto market cap represents $ 1.82 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 60.5%.

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FASCINATING. NO, Fascinating 2X. All the chatter and comments on cryptocurrencies (namely Bitcoin) really make getting up every morning a real treat. Bitcoin too risky?; Bitcoin $1M?; Bitcoin a fraud (Jamie Dimon)?; Bitcoin needs regulation?; Bitcoin led by “stupid investors” (David Stockman)?; Bitcoin changes the world?. Etc, etc etc, but you get it. So what do you do? OH, let the NYSE create LEVERAGED ETFs for investors/traders. How silly of all of us. If the SEC and the NYSE think “regular” bitcoin and their futures are risky the ONLY way to manage that risk is to…….LEVERAGE. FOLKS, this is way to easy. I am going to create a 10X ETF funded by an ICO to take ALL the risk out of bitcoin. Anybody want in? “The New York Stock Exchange has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to list five bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on one of its markets, according to an SEC filing. The ETFs were created by Direxion Asset Management to track bitcoin futures trading. While they are not tied to the price of bitcoin itself, the funds aim to multiply investor returns when compared to the underlying market, the filing said. The instruments, named 1.25X Bull Fund, 1.5X Bull Fund, and 2X Bull Fund, will leverage “investment results (before fees and expenses) that correlate positively to either 125%, 150%, or 200% the daily return of the target benchmark,” the filing said. For each fund, that means a 1 percent rise in the price of bitcoin futures should result in a per-share gain of between 1.25 percent and 2 percent, depending on which Bull Fund is used. However, the potential for higher rewards also comes with higher risk: If the price of bitcoin falls, investors’ losses would be multiplied by 1.25. As such, the funds are not intended for long-term investing, the filing said. The NYSE has issued several filings related to the bitcoin market, including for bitcoin-related ETFs, with the SEC. If the SEC approves this request, the five ETFs will be listed on Arca, a secondary marketplace on the NYSE. The news was first reported by Business Insider and Reuters. The NYSE’s move comes after two of its rival exchanges, the Cboe and the CME, won approval to list bitcoin futures…”

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to face strong resistance at the $60,000 level on March 19 as bulls spent the day climbing back from an early morning drop which briefly pushed BTC into the sub-$56,500 range.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that after being rejected at the $60,000 level on March 18, the price of Bitcoin hit a low of $56,268 in the early hours on Friday before dip buyers returned to help lift the price back above $58,500.

Key Bitcoin price metrics show that despite the struggles faced in order to breakout past $60,000, top-traders are growing increasingly bullish as evidenced by an uptick in leveraged long positions over the past week as the BTC trading range grew tighter.

Global signs of adoption continue to emerge as the first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America was approved in Brazil, making it the fourth ETF to be approved in the western hemisphere following three recently launched ETFs in Canada.

Chad Steinglass, head of trading at crypto capital markets firm CrossTower recently discussed the pressures Bitcoin faced at the $60,000 level and pointed out that the top cryptocurrency has faced “at least some resistance at every round number on the way up,” and that once a resistance level is surpassed, it then becomes support.

According to Steinglass, “it will take a bit of chipping away to break through $60,000 with any kind of authority,” but the recent strength displayed by Bitcoin “in the face of stiff macro headwinds” indicates no reason for the bullish momentum to stop.

Steinglass identified the $57,000 to $58,000 range as the new support level which should hold “as long as some unexpected event doesn’t derail it,” such as new lockdown measures or a significant move in US Treasuries.

Steinglass said:

Rising interest rates for U.S. Treasuries continue to put pressure on the global financial markets which ended Friday’s trading session mixed as traders begin to worry about the possibility of a rapid rise in inflation hindering the economic recovery and causing a “near-term shift in the Federal Reserve’s ultra-accommodative monetary policy.”

The S&P 500 and Dow were unable to overcome early pressures in the market and closed the day down 0.06% and 0.71% respectively while the NASDAQ displayed early strength against the downturn and managed to close the day up 0.76%.

Multiple altcoins experienced double-digit gains on Friday showing that the overall uptrend for the cryptocurrency market remains intact.

Uniswap (UNI) has been the best performing top-10 coin, increasing 11.5% to a price of $33.50 while Pundi X (NPXS) saw its price explode 50% higher to an intraday high of $0.0055.

The top altcoin Ether (ETH) continues to face resistance above $1,800 with data indicating that bulls may wait until the $1.15 billion worth of ETH options expire on March 26 for them to put on a new show of force.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.803 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 60.5%.

The stock prices of the top publicly-listed Bitcoin mining firms in the US have outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) by an average of 455%, according to Fundstrat Vice President of digital asset strategy, Leeor Shimron. Cited by CoinTelegraph, Shrimron told CNBC that the outperformance comes even as the firms have been operating at losses.

The ‘top’ Bitcoin mining firms include the largest firms in the industry. These are Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain, Hut8 and Hive Blockchain. Each of the companies has a total market capitalization of over $1 billion.

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Shimron found that each time that BTC’s price moves by a margin of 1%, the stock price of the mining firms moves by an average of 2.5%. This has been true for both upward and downward movements in the price of BTC. Therefore, as Bitcoin’s price has gained roughly 900% over the past 12 months, the stock prices of the mining firms have grown by some 5000%.

However, Shimron noted that the drops in stock prices will likely be more severe than drops in Bitcoin prices if crypto markets turn sour. “They’ll probably be hit hard as Bitcoin draws down,” he told CNBC.

What could be causing the popularity of Bitcoin mining firms to rise so quickly? Shimron believes that it may have something to do with the lack of regulated crypto investment products available in the United States. Shimron specifically mentioned the lack of a Bitcoin ETF: “until a Bitcoin ETF is approved, investors may view public mining companies as one of the only ways to get exposure to Bitcoin.”

Citing the fact that “[Coinbase’s shares are] trading at a roughly $100 billion valuation in the private markets,” Shimron said that investors are clearly hungry for regulated opportunities to invest in crypto. “Clearly, there is investor appetite to gain exposure to operators within the crypto space, and miners are just another segment within that.”

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In addition, Shimron noted that the four largest publicly-listed mining companies may have a technological advantage over smaller mining firms within the space. He said that as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chain flows around the globe, these mining firms were some of the only ones that were able to stock up on the latest mining hardware. For example, Bitmain’s Antminer S19 series.

This is why these firms are operating at a loss. “They’ve made a huge capital investment and operate at a loss to position themselves for the current bull run,” Shimron explained.

“By building up their cash rate capacity and increasing their operating leverage, they effectively shield themselves from competition amongst new miners. So they’ve increased their economies of scale to retain market share, and I believe that should pay dividends going forward.”

Because investors’ appetite for regulated Bitcoin investment products seems to be so high, a number of analysts believe that a US Bitcoin ETF could have a serious impact on the price of Bitcoin.

Diogo Monica, President of federally-chartered crypto bank Anchorage, recently told Finance Magnates that: “I still think that there’s going to be a major impact in the United States when a Bitcoin ETF comes to the US.”

Because of the level of cryptocurrency industry infrastructure that is currently available, Monica said that he “wouldn’t be surprised if we get an ETF in the United States at some point soon.”

According to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), banking giant Goldman Sachs has petition approval for a new Exchange Tradable Fund (ETF) with the option to add exposure to Bitcoin.

With an ARK innovation structure and a March 19, 2021 filing date, the financial product would be called Autocallable Contingent Coupon Coupon ETF-Linked Notes. Maturing on March 26, 2026, the product proposed by Goldman Sachs contemplates:

The ETF is an actively managed exchange-traded fund that will invest under normal circumstances primarily (at least 65% of its assets) in domestic and foreign equity securities of companies that are relevant to the ETF’s investment theme of disruptive innovation.

The fund’s primary investment strategy considers “companies” or disruptive technologies to be those that rely on and benefit from “products or services under development”. In addition, these “companies” may belong to multiple sectors (energy, transportation, genomics, among others) with scientific research that supports them. The document states:

The ETF may have exposure to cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, indirectly through an investment in a grantor trust. The ETF’s exposure to cryptocurrency may change over time and, accordingly, such exposure may not always be represented in the ETF’s portfolio.

In addition to Bitcoin, the bank’s proposed product will invest in Fintech innovation companies, “next-generation” internet companies, artificial intelligence, energy transformation, and automation transformation entities. The ETF could also give exposure to Bitcoin to third parties, as the document indicates:

The ETF is permitted to lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions desiring to borrow securities to complete transactions, in pursuing arbitrage opportunities or hedging strategies or for other similar purposes. In connection with such loans, the ETF receives liquid collateral equal to at least 102% of the value of the portfolio securities being lent. This collateral is marked to market on a daily basis.

Just a few days ago, Morgan Stanley announced that it will give exposure to Bitcoin to its clients. Interested investors must have more than $5 million in an account at the bank.

The exposure will be granted by giving access to three funds, in partnership with crypto firm Galaxy Digital and FS NYDIG will enable the product.

Bitcoin price records moderate losses on the one-day chart with 3.3%, trading at $54,257. In the last week, losses stand at 6.7% with 8% on the 30-day chart.

International banking giant and leading financial institution, Goldman Sachs has filed a prospectus with the US SEC, seeking approval for a Bitcoin ETF. The prospectus catalog exposure to the digital currencies.  

The prospectus filed by Goldman Sachs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC is for an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). The international banking giant is seeking approval from the SEC to launch an ETF termed ARK Innovation ETF. From the perspective of Goldman Sachs, the ETF exposure to digital currencies such as Bitcoin will provide a lead on companies that offer what it considers as “disruptive innovation”. The excerpt from the filing reads:

“The ETF may have exposure to cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, indirectly through an investment in a grantor trust. The ETF’s exposure to cryptocurrency may change over time. And, such exposure may not always be represented in the ETF’s portfolio.”

Not long back, the news reads that Goldman Sachs was considering launching a Bitcoin ETF along with offering crypto custodial services. Also, the asset management behemoth Fidelity Investments filed a document with the SEC to launch a Bitcoin ETF. With this move, the Sachs and Fidelity Investments have become the latest institutions to propose a Bitcoin-related ETF with the U.S. regulator. However, the commission is yet to approve the filed application. The commission is currently reviewing VanEck’s Bitcoin ETF proposal. 

The ETF known as Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust would hold B itcoin and value its shares based on prices from major cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase and Bitstamp. The ‘trust’ tracks the performance of bitcoin, as measured by the Index, adjusted for the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities.

From the latest, Canadian regulators agreed upon North America’s first Bitcoin ETF last month. Another two more ETFs are to reach the markets of Canada. Countries like Canada and Brazil already own Bitcoin ETFs. Brazilian regulators also approved Latin America’s first Bitcoin ETF earlier in March.

Raoul Pal revealed news concerning Temasek, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and their Bitcoin journey.

— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) March 25, 2021

This report states that Singapore wealth fund Temasek, who currently manages over $306 billion in assets, has been buying Bitcoin from miners. Temasek’s Bitcoin investment marks a big turning point in the growing mainstream adoption of Bitcoin.

This shows that following Fortune 500 companies, a good number of financial giants have begun to look into the Bitcoin space for their investments. It is also pertinent to note that Temasek is not new to the crypto space. The sovereign wealth fund manager had earlier invested in Binance Singapore. Besides, Temasek assisted Binance to gain a crypto license when the latter came into Singapore in 2018.

During the podcast, Raoul Pal and Robert Gutmann, CEO of New York Digital Investment Group, discussed whether governments would follow in the footsteps of financial firms and the Temasek sovereign fund in adopting Bitcoin.

Gutmann notes that investors are looking to hedge the dollar-dominated liabilities they currently possess. He says, “If you look at the world today on a forward basis, it is reasonable to be asking yourself as an investment committee or as an allocation committee [if] having all of [their] assets denominated in dollars against dollar-denominated liabilities is the right allocation mix.”

Following this trend, traditional financial giants like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have also started providing their institutional clients with Bitcoin services.

With a $1 trillion market cap, Bitcoin has recorded an increased demand for Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. The first Bitcoin ETF in North America, Purpose Bitcoin ETF in Canada, has been a success. Its first day of trading saw a staggering trading volume of $165 million. Following that success, many financial giants and agencies have filed for Bitcoin ETFs. Just recently, Fidelity and Goldman Sachs filed for Bitcoin ETFs.

Fidelity Goldman Sachs SkyBridge Morgan Stanley/NYDIG VanEck Valkyrie WisdomTree Bitwise

There’s a wave of money about to flood into #Bitcoin 🙌

— Bitcoin Archive 🗄🚀🌔 (@BTC_Archive) March 24, 2021

At present, the U.S. has reportedly recorded a total of eight Bitcoin ETF proposals. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged VanEck’s application. This implies that the SEC will look into its application and would either approve or reject it within the next 45 days.

Prior to these recent ETF applications, the SEC and other regulatory bodies have rejected past applications for the reason that the markets were not well equipped for an ETF. With the look of things regarding the Bitcoin trillion-dollar market cap and heightened Bitcoin demand, the first Bitcoin ETF may make its way into the U.S. by the end of the year.

As of the time of publication, Bitcoin price was $57,793.92 with a 24-hour trading volume of $57,090,256,298. BTC price also rose by 4.1% over the last 24 hours. Besides, it has a circulating supply of 18.66 million bitcoins and a max supply of 21 million. Bitfinex is also the current most active market trading BTC.

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Direxion, one of the largest issuers of inverse and leveraged exchange-traded funds, is looking to add bitcoin products to its stable of geared ETFs. In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Direxion unveiled plans for the Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.25X BullShares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.5X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bull Shares and Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bear Shares. The funds "will offer investors the opportunity to obtain daily short, leveraged long or leveraged short exposure to the lead month bitcoin futures contract traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("CME") or on Cboe Global Markets, Inc. ("CBOE") or on any other U.S. exchange that subsequently trades bitcoin futures contracts,” according to the filing. Digital currencies have rapidly developed a reputation for being a volatile asset class, meaning it was probably just a matter of time before ETF issuers looked to add leverage to the equation. Still, it pays to remember leveraged cryptocurrency ETFs, assuming the funds come to market, will carry the same warnings as traditional leveraged ETFs. Mainly, these funds are intended to be short-term, intraday instruments. "Each Fund will seek daily correlation to the target benchmark and should not be expected to track the performance of the target benchmark for any period longer than one business day," according to Direxion's filing. "Additionally, while each Fund will seek daily correlation to the target benchmark, it should not be expected to track dollar for dollar the spot price of bitcoin because the Fund will invest in Bitcoin Futures Contracts rather than directly in bitcoin, and the spot price movements of bitcoin may not correspond directly to price movements of the Bitcoin Futures Contracts." The idea of lightly leveraged ETFs isn't new. Direxion already offers two such products, the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 1.25X Shares (NYSE: LLSP) and the Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 1.25X Shares (NYSE: LLSC). Last year, Direxion filed plans for a more traditional bitcoin fund, the Direxion Bitcoin ETF. Assuming that fund is approved, it will look to “to provide total return that exceeds that of bitcoin futures contracts over a complete market cycle," according to a SEC filing. The SEC has yet to approve any ETF based on digital currencies. Issuers Scramble To Launch Bitcoin ETFs Commodity, Currency, Security, Or Scam: What Type Of Asset Do You Think Bitcoin Is? Posted-In: Cryptocurrency Long Ideas News Short Ideas Specialty ETFs New ETFs Futures Forex Best of Benzinga

SkyBridge Capital, a New York-based investment firm, has officially become the latest firm to file for the right to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The firm submitted its filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 19th.

According to a report by CoinTelegraph, SkyBridge filed for the ETF in partnership with First Trust Advisors. First Trust will act as the fund’s primary advisor, while SkyBridge will serve as its sub-advisor.

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If approved, the fund will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Arca. A ticker symbol has not yet been decided for the fund.

Skybridge’s application is the latest in a number of several Bitcoin ETF applications that have been filed with the US SEC since the start of the year.

Before Skybridge, a firm known as WisdomTree submitted its latest Bitcoin ETF application on March 11th. Previously, in 2020, WisdomTree applied for the right to launch an ETF that would invest up to 5% of its capital into Bitcoin futures contracts; the rest of the fund’s capital would have been devoted to energy, agriculture and metals.

In February, US investment bank Morgan Stanley submitted a Bitcoin ETF filing in partnership with NYDIG, a financial services firm focused on cryptocurrency. Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF would have only been available to investors who hold at least $2 million in assets with the bank.

In January, VanEck and Valkyrie Digital Assets also filed for Bitcoin ETFs. VanEck, which has issued a number of exchange-traded products, has been trying for a Bitcoin ETF for several years.

Previously, in 2019, a wave of financial firms attempted to file for an ETF with the United States SEC. However, their efforts were unilaterally denied by the Commission.

Why are all of these firms trying for Bitcoin ETFs now? In late 2019, Jake Chervinsky, a general counsel lawyer at Compound Finance, said on Twitter that it was unlikely that the industry could have expected to see a Bitcoin ETF while Jay Clayton, the former chair of the SEC, was in office.

“At this point, it’s reasonable to assume that Jay Clayton’s SEC will never approve a bitcoin ETF,” he wrote. However, Clayton stepped down as the Chairman of the SEC in December 2020.

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His term ends on June 5, 2021, but could go another 18 months longer.

Usually we'd see new ETF proposals filed immediately after rejection, but it might be time to take a year off.

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) October 10, 2019

In a recent interview with Finance Magnates and Anchorage President and Co-Founder, Diogo Monica said that at the time, the necessary infrastructure for supporting an ETF may not have been in place.

“The other thing that we have to think about is that today’s market is very different from the market at the time that many proposed Bitcoin ETFs were being rejected,” he said.

Indeed, there were a number of reasons why ETFs may not have viable in early 2019. At the time, the crypto industry lacked the necessary institutional infrastructure, including “liquidity, regulatory clarity and the number of platforms in place.”

Now, “the space is in a very different level of maturity,” he told Finance Magnates. “That is one of the things that it seems like regulators were waiting for, and I think we’re there now. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get an ETF in the United States at some point soon.”

Finance Magnates previously reported that the lack of a Bitcoin ETF in the United States has led institutional investors to seek other regulated ways of investing in BTC. For example, Fundstrat Vice President of digital asset strategy, Leeor Shimron, told CNBC that: “until a Bitcoin ETF is approved, investors may view public mining companies as one of the only ways to get exposure to Bitcoin.” Indeed, investments in public mining companies have outperformed Bitcoin by 455% over the past 12 months.

As rising US Treasury rates begin to wreak havoc on global capital markets, Bitcoin bulls attempt to chip away at the $60,000 resistance barrier.

On March 19, Bitcoin (BTC) faced stiff resistance at the $60,000 mark as bulls spent the day climbing back from an early morning decline that briefly dropped BTC into the sub-$56,500 area.

According to TradingView data, after being rejected at the $60,000 mark on March 18, the price of Bitcoin fell to $56,268 in the early hours of Friday before dip investors returned to help push the price back above $58,500.

Key Bitcoin price indicators reveal that, amid the challenges in breaking through $60,000, top traders are being steadily bullish, as demonstrated by a spike in leveraged long positions over the past week as the BTC trading range narrowed.

The first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America was approved in Brazil, making it the fourth ETF approved in the Western Hemisphere, following three newly released ETFs in Canada.

Chad Steinglass, head of trading at cryptocurrency capital markets company CrossTower, recently addressed the stresses Bitcoin encountered at the $60,000 range, pointing out that the top cryptocurrency has faced “at least some opposition at any round number on the road up,” and that if a resistance level is reached, it becomes help.

According to Steinglass, “it will take some chipping away to bust through $60,000 with some sort of authority,” but Bitcoin’s recent resilience “in the face of strong macro headwinds” suggests there is no cause for the bullish trend to stall.

The current funding standard, according to Steinglass, is $57,000 to $58,000, and it should keep “as long as any unlikely incident doesn’t derail it,” such as new lockdown steps or a major change in US Treasuries.

Steinglass said:

“The relationship between the dollar and treasuries has flipped 180 degrees as the story has quickly become risk-off and flight to quality instead of growth and inflation, so treasuries and dollar are both ticking higher as all risk assets are selling off.”

Growing interest rates for US Treasuries continue to place pressure on global capital markets, which finished Friday’s trading session mixed, as traders became worried about the prospect of a sharp increase in inflation impeding economic growth and triggering a “near-term change in the Federal Reserve’s ultra-accommodative monetary policy.”

The S&P 500 and Dow were unable to resolve early market challenges and ended the day down 0.06 percent and 0.71 percent, respectively, while the NASDAQ showed early resistance to the slowdown and closed the day up 0.76 percent.

On Friday, several altcoins saw double-digit losses, indicating that the cryptocurrency market’s overall uptrend is still intact.

The highest performing top-10 coin has been Uniswap (UNI), which has risen 11.5 percent to a price of $33.50, while Pundi X (NPXS) has seen its price explode 50 percent higher to an intraday peak of $0.0055.

Ether (ETH), the top altcoin, continues to face resistance above $1,800, with data showing that bulls may wait until the $1.15 billion worth of ETH options expire on March 26 before putting on a fresh display of power.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.803 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 60.5%.

In early 2019, Bitcoin ETFs were all the rage, sort of.

At least, applying for the right to launch a Bitcoin ETF in the United States seemed to have been a popular thing to do back in those days. A number of high-profile financial firms filed for the right to launch a Bitcoin ETF, including BitWise Digital Assets and VanEck. However, every single one of the filings was denied.

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After the wave of denials hit, applicants seemed to cool off on their efforts. That is, until recently.

Indeed, when the SEC rejected Bitwise’s application in October of 2019, the firm said on Twitter that it would not be appealing the decision. Instead, Bitwise said that it would “re-file when the time is right.”

The journey continues.

We're committed to continuing to engage with the SEC to provide the data & analysis that shines light on the industry and its progress.

The 112-pages today show the areas of focus. We'll re-file when the time is right.

— Bitwise (@BitwiseInvest) October 10, 2019

It seems that the ‘right’ time may have come. In February, Bitwise filed for another kind of crypto ETF with the SEC.

This time, the fund–called the ‘Crypto Innovators ETF’ was not Bitcoin-focused. Instead, as CoinTelegraph reported: “the proposed Index will be comprised primarily of companies that derive more than 75% of their revenue from the crypto sector or that have more than 75% of their net assets held in cryptocurrency.”

And, Bitwise has not been the only firm to file for a crypto ETF since the beginning of the year. Earlier this week, Finance Magnates reported that SkyBridge Capital, a New York-based investment firm, filed for a Bitcoin ETF in partnership with First Trust Advisors.

Additionally, WisdomTree submitted its latest application for a Bitcoin ETF on March 11th. (WisdomTree had applied for the right to launch an ETF that would invest up to 5% of its capital into Bitcoin futures contracts in 2020.)

Further, in February, the US investment bank Morgan Stanley submitted a Bitcoin ETF filing in partnership with NYDIG, a financial services firm focused on cryptocurrency. Finally, in late December of 2020 and early January 2021, VanEck and Valkyrie Digital Assets filed for Bitcoin ETFs. VanEck, which has issued a number of exchange-traded products, has been trying for a Bitcoin ETF for several years. Its last Bitcoin ETF application was rejected in September 2019.

Why have all of these firms submitted crypto ETF applications since the beginning of the year?

It seems that there are several reasons. First of all, when the wave of Bitcoin ETF rejections hit in late 2019, some analysts pointed to the organization’s Chairman.

For example, Jake Chervinsky, a general counsel lawyer at Compound Finance, Tweeted in October 2019 that: “At this point, it’s reasonable to assume that Jay Clayton’s SEC will never approve a bitcoin ETF.” Chervinsky pointed to the fact that: “usually we’d see new ETF proposals filed immediately after rejection,” but many of the rejected firms tabled their ETF efforts until further notice.

His term ends on June 5, 2021, but could go another 18 months longer.

Usually we'd see new ETF proposals filed immediately after rejection, but it might be time to take a year off.

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) October 10, 2019

Now, Clayton is no longer the Chairman of the SEC. He stepped down from the position in December 2020.

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Marie Tatibouet, the Chief Marketing Officer at cryptocurrency exchange, Gate.io, told Finance Magnates that therefore, new leadership in the SEC and elsewhere could be a boon for crypto-related investment products. “There is a huge possibility for a Bitcoin ETF to be approved now due to the influx of blockchain-friendly folks in both the SEC and CFTC,” Tatibouet told Finance Magnates.

For example, “Gary Gensler, the new SEC chair, was a blockchain researcher and professor.” Indeed, Gensler was formerly the Senior Advisor to the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative.

Moreover, Tatibouet explained that “Chris Brummer, the man heavily touted to be the new CFTC chair, is known for his research work on digital technology, international finance and cryptocurrencies.” Additionally, “Jason Somensatto, a lawyer and former senior legal counsel of the Ethereum-based decentralized exchange protocol, Ox (ZRX), has also joined the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).”

In addition to the influx of new possibly blockchain-friendly faces in the SEC and CFTC, the cryptocurrency market as a whole looks quite different now than it did in 2019.

“Remember that over the last two years, institutions like MicroStrategy, Tesla and Square Crypto, have made significant Bitcoin investments, which further solidifies its case as a credible asset class,” Tatibouet told Finance Magnates. “All of these factors will definitely improve the case for a Bitcoin ETF.”

Darin Feinstein, Executive Chairman of Black Star Investments, pointed out to Finance Magnates that: “in 2019, it was estimated that there were 31 million Bitcoin users. Today, that number exceeds 100 million.”

“As more people move toward interacting with digital assets, the likelihood of financial derivative products moves from a question of if they are approved to when they will be approved,” he said.

Additionally, “Canada and Brazil have both approved ETFs. It is just a matter of time before the United States joins them.”

And so far, the performance of and interest in ETFs outside of the United States has been considerable. Tatibouet told Finance Magnates that: “Canadian Bitcoin ETF application, as brought forward by Purpose Investments, has already accomplished $1 billion in total assets under management.” As such, “they have already proven that a Bitcoin ETF can successfully operate in North America.”

In other words, many analysts believe that a Bitcoin ETF is no longer a matter of if, but when.

Pat LaVecchia, CEO and Co-Chairman of Oasis Pro Markets, told Finance Magnates that: “the likelihood of the SEC approving a Bitcoin ETF has certainly improved, although I expect the SEC to be very deliberate in examining the issue before making a decision.”

“As more mainstream retailers and financial institutions accept Bitcoin as payment for goods and services, an ETF will ultimately be approved,” LaVecchia said. “However, the SEC will be very selective in approving a fund, as they will consider experience with managing other ETFs, capitalization and sophistication of each applicant.”

Indeed, in spite of the progress that has been made, there may still be some bumps on the road to an approval.

Kristin Boggiano, President and Co-Founder of digital assets capital markets firm, CrossTower, told Finance Magnates that while “there is hope the new administration and the new chairman of the SEC will make different decisions than have been made in the past,” there are no guarantees.

“People submitting ETFs for approval have clarity as to whether an ETF will be approved,” Boggiano told Finance Magnates. “As Commissioner Peirce consistently notes, the SEC has applied a different standard to bitcoin ETFs compared with other asset classes, and therefore, no approval has been made despite significant and increasing demand.”

Additionally, as the United States SEC has continually stalled in approving an ETF, investors have sought other regulated means of investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Boggiano said that: “Meanwhile, investors looking for crypto exposure have invested in other security products, such as the recent convertible bond issuance, in order to gain exposure to this asset class.”

At the same time, “the SEC’s reluctance to approve ETFs has magnified the first-approved [‘first mover’] advantage in the bitcoin ETF, which is likely why entities are submitting ETFs for approval.”

And indeed, as demand for regulated Bitcoin investment products has increased, it has become increasingly clear to some analysts that the impact of an approved Bitcoin ETF on US markets would be significant.

How significant? Pat LaVecchia said that: “It’s difficult to gauge the impact on the price of Bitcoin. Remember, the ETF tracks the price of the asset, it doesn’t actually own Bitcoin.”

“That being said, the flows into the ETF will certainly indicate the level of interest in BItcoin as an investment. Just as a point of reference, The Purpose Bitcoin ETF, which only started trading last month in Canada, already has a market cap of $1 billion. So there is clearly demand for this product.”

Indeed, Kapil Rathi, chief executive of CrossTower, told Finance Magnates that an approved crypto ETF “would be extremely positive for the overall digital asset industry and the bitcoin market.”

“If the SEC does so, it would permit the average investor a means to obtain exposure in their IRAs and 401ks,” he said. “Most investors in bitcoin believe in the asset class as a long-term investment, which indicates that you will see a significant amount of retirement inflows into bitcoin. According to Bloomberg, new bitcoin ETFs in Canada attracted $5.2 billion in February alone, the second-highest month of inflows on record. I think you’ll see the same in the US.”

What are your thoughts on the potential launch of a Bitcoin ETF in the united states? Let us know in the comments below.