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BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust will use Coinbase Custody
as its custodian, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC). The U.S. regulator has yet to approve any applications for
spot bitcoin ETFs.
Last year, BlackRock launched a spot bitcoin private trust
for institutional clients in the United States.
The move comes at a time when the global cryptocurrency
industry has been caught in the crosshairs of the US securities regulator on
alleged violations of securities laws.
Earlier this month, the regulator sued major exchanges
Coinbase and Binance in high-profile lawsuits that reverberated through the
digital assets industry.
"The fact that BlackRock, a well-respected and
established asset management company, has filed for a Bitcoin ETF could be seen
as a positive development in the quest for regulatory approval," said
Joshua Chu, group chief risk officer at blockchain technology group XBE,
Coinllectibles and Marvion.
"It also shows resilience of the public's interest in crypto."
A spot bitcoin ETF would track bitcoin's underlying market
price. Proponents say an ETF would give investors exposure to bitcoin without
directly buying it.
The SEC rejected Grayscale Investment LLC's application last
year to convert its flagship spot Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF.
Grayscale sued the SEC, claiming that the regulator was
acting arbitrarily in rejecting applications for spot bitcoin ETFs when it had
previously approved bitcoin futures ETFs.
The SEC has also rejected proposals for spot bitcoin ETFs
from firms including Fidelity, Cboe Global Markets and NYDIG.
Bitcoin prices closed up 2 percent on Thursday after the
announcement. They were last at $25,506 on Friday. The largest cryptocurrency
is up 54 percent in the year.
Plans for BlackRock's ETF were reported by CoinDesk earlier
in the day. © Reuters