Fidelity Bitcoin ETF set to trade on CBOE—but no word from SEC

Not approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund got the nod to list on the CBOE exchange, according to a new SEC filing.

That, of course, depends on whether the SEC authorizes Fidelity to offer its Bitcoin ETF to investors. As it stands, the SEC still has a week before it needs to approve, reject or delay its decision.

Bitcoin ETF, the white whale of the crypto market for the past decade, allows traditional investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without having to directly purchase and store the digital asset. In other words, investors can buy into Bitcoin without the hassle of learning the ins and outs of cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets.

For this reason, analysts expect Wall Street's cash-to-crypto move should the ETF ever be approved. But the SEC refused. In the last 10 years, Bitcoin ETF applicants have been rejected after rejection from the SEC, mostly citing the possibility of use in crypto markets as the main reason. TradFi changed the calculus when heavyweights like Fidelity and BlackRock entered the fray.

After the SEC's latest round of delays, the regulator has until January 10 to make a decision on the handful of pending Bitcoin ETF applications it is currently considering. But analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence who have been tracking ETF activity have discounted that and predict the SEC will make an announcement between Jan. 8 and Jan. 10.

For now — on a day when the idea that Bitcoin ETF applications could be rejected has made the market sceptical — it's a bullish sign. As of this writing, Bitcoin has recovered slightly from Wednesday's early flash crash. It's trading at $42,595.05, according to CoinGecko, down 5.7% from this time yesterday.

The securities list appears on the Asset Manager's Form 8-A12B or the Securities List Registration on the National Exchange Form. The lawsuit was filed with U.S. securities regulators Wednesday afternoon, with several applicants still awaiting word on their Bitcoin ETF registrations.

A list maintained by the Depository Trust and Clearing Company (DTCC) includes symbols for all active and pre-launch exchange-traded funds or ETFs. The Fidelity Bitcoin ETF currently trades on the CBOE under the symbol FBTC.

Having a symbol listed on the DTCC is not the same as SEC certification. The crypto industry learned that lesson when BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust token rocked markets in October. At the time, traders considered it a bad sign. But analysts have pointed out that this is not necessarily the case.

“My guess is that they've been told or they're waiting days, not weeks or months,” said Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas. “Like I said yesterday, it was amazing to see him up there.”

Apparently, the IBTC (now IBIT) token was on the DTCC list for months before the wider crypto community noticed and panicked about its removal.

A DTCC spokesperson told Decrypt in an email that the marker had been on the list since August. But the inclusion of the logo “does not imply any outcome of any advanced regulatory or other approval process,” the company said.

Edited by Guillermo Jimenez.