BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, on Thursday filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund called the iShares Bitcoin Trust.
Coinbase Custody Trust Company will serve as custodian for the trust's bitcoin holdings and Bank of New York Mellon will be the custodian for its cash holdings, the filing said.
The SEC has yet to approve a spot bitcoin ETF, though it has approved several bitcoin futures ETFs.
"The SEC has been consistent in rejecting spot Bitcoin ETFs from launching on concerns about fraud and manipulation," said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, a data and analytics provider. "I'm not sure the environment is different."
Still, "given BlackRock's industry leadership if a product is approved it will be hugely successful," Mr. Rosenbluth said in an email.
