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Hashdex, one of the 13 asset managers vying for a spot
Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, expects to see the first
spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States land by the second
quarter of 2024, followed by a spot Ether ETF.
“The exact timing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S.
remains unclear, but in 2023, the narrative around this
product switched from a question of ‘if’ to a matter of
‘when,’” said Hashdex’s U.S. and Europe head of product
Dramane Meite in a 2024 outlook report, published on Dec.
4.
“We believe U.S. investors will have access to a spot Bitcoin ETF by the second quarter of the new year and that a spot Ether ETF is likely to follow.”
Hashdex is one of 13 asset managers with a spot Bitcoin ETF application before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It has also pitched a hybrid Ether ETF with futures and spot contracts to the regulator.
While Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric
Balchunas have pinned 90% odds that spot Bitcoin ETFs will
be approved in the days leading up to Jan. 10, 2024,
Seyffart has previously noted that this refers only to the
19b-4 applications and that the separate Form S-1 must
also be approved for an ETF to launch.
Seyffart noted in November that “there could be weeks or
even months between approval and launch.”
Companies use Form S-1 to notify the SEC of proposed rule changes and require sign-off from the agency’s Division of Corporation Finance.
In Hashdex’s report, Meite said spot Bitcoin and Ether
ETFs would see “legacy asset managers with thousands of
staff and trusted brands” offer their customers a crypto
product for the first time.
He believed this would unlock a $50 trillion market,
larger than Europe, Canada and Brazil combined — the only
three global markets with spot crypto exchange-traded
products.
Meite expected most of the interest in single-asset ETFs
will focus on Bitcoin and Ether, “given their name
recognition and little differentiation among incumbents.”