BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager and one of the leading candidates in the race to issue the first U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF, purchased $10 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) on January 3, 2024. It was reported that this is expected. Analyst.
On December 23rd, market research analyst James Seifert posted on X (formerly Twitter) highlighting BlackRock's intention to use the (BTC) it plans to purchase as a seed for an ETF.
Before this — Seed movement does not mean launch
BlackRock appears to be “planning” to take action on January 3rd. They are seeding the ETF with $10 million. But perhaps that means BlackRock is hoping for a launch soon after? pic.twitter.com/PknXs5B2TP
— James Seyffert (@JSeyff) December 22, 2023
Seifert followed up the post by saying that while the document referring to the BTC purchase is not final, approved or “valid,” the purchase is “consistent with January approval predictions.” He said he was deaf.
He said the capital injection doesn't necessarily mean the ETF will launch, but BlackRock could expect a release shortly thereafter. Safer said the inclusion of the January 3 date was just a “teasing,” saying the date is similar to the date of Bitcoin's Genesis block.
Users on the X platform Asked Seifert said he expects $10 million to be a seed size, saying it's “pretty standard” but “subject to change.”
Related: 5 reasons why Spot Bitcoin ETF approval could push BTC price above $100,000
In late December, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balciunas also posted about the planned acquisition on January 3, saying that BlackRock's $10 million (BTC) acquisition will be based on its initial seed funding of $100,000 in October. He said it would be a “pretty significant increase” in dollar terms.
BlackRock expects seed $IBIT Won $10 million on January 3rd. Note this date and the fairly large increase from the $100,000 we seeded in October. https://t.co/cV22QYz3Do
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 22, 2023
Balchunas too Posted He said Bitwise's pending Bitwise S-1 filing, which aims to seed a Bitcoin ETF with $200 million, “blows away” the money BlackRock plans to buy.
“That will be a big help early in the race. There's no AP name, but it could be down the road.”
It is predicted that BlackRock will purchase (BTC) seed funds on January 3rd, but also… multiple alternative There are reports that the date has been pushed back to January 5th, but both dates are still speculative.
Cointelegraph has reached out to BlackRock for further information on this matter, but has not yet received a response.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set a December 29, 2023 amendment deadline for Spot Bitcoin ETF applications, and BlackRock, VanEck, and Valkyrie all filed last-minute amendments.
Analysts expect the SEC's decision on ETFs to be announced by January 10, 2024.
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