💰 Bitcoin ETF Gets a Makeover: BlackRock’s Crypto Swap Shop 🔄

Move over, Wall Street! 🚚 Nasdaq’s cooked up a scheme to let BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF play swapsies with the big kids – in-kind, no less!

James Seyffart, the ETF whisperer at Bloomberg, huffed on Jan. 24 that BlackRock’s Bitcoin bash (aka the IBIT) should’ve been allowed to do this hocus-pocus from day one. 🎩

And wouldn’t you know it? On the very same day, six more crypto ETFs tried to crash the party. 🎉

Authorized Participants Only: No Bitcoin for You! 🚫

Nasdaq’s all like, “Let’s let the Trust’s Bitcoin roam free!” – at least according to their Jan. 24 love letter to the SEC. 💌

They’re saying Authorized Participants – the cool kids who make and break ETF shares – can use cold, hard cash or shiny Bitcoin. No middlemen, no problem! 💸

But don’t get too excited, folks. Individual investors are still stuck with the old-fashioned cash model. No in-kind fun for you! 😭

“Individuals can’t play this ‘in-kind’ game,” Seyffart says, probably with a smirk.

Chris J Terry, the crypto wizard at Bitseeker Consulting, had to break it to the crowd: no, you can’t just waltz in and trade your Bitcoin for ETF shares. Sorry, not sorry. 🙃

Seyffart chimes in, “This means ETFs could be smoother than a baby’s bottom – theoretically, of course.”

IBIT: The Bitcoin ETF That Keeps on Giving

Terry spills the beans: less steps, fewer middlemen, and voilà – a more efficient ETF! 🎈

And guess what? In-kind redemptions are like a magic trick for tax efficiency. “Poof!” goes the capital gains distributions, says Terry.

IBIT’s the big Bitcoin ETF on the block, raking in a whopping $39.57 billion since it hit the scene in January 2024. 🏦

Meanwhile, CoinShares and Grayscale were like, “Us too, us too!” – filing for their own crypto ETFs. Litecoin, XRP, Solana – you name it, they want it. 🌟

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2025-01-25 05:44