The world’s largest asset manager names banking giant JPMorgan and trading firm Jane Street as authorized participants for its spot market Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering.
According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas of BlackRock updated the S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – the form for the initial registration of new securities – and named JPMorgan and Jane Street as authorized participants (APs).
An AP is an organization, usually a large bank, that has the power to create and redeem shares of a particular ETF.
Balchunas says the naming of APs is not required in S-1 filings, adding BlackRock may have been a power play.
“To be clear, the AP names were not planned for S-1s, so BlackRock adding them is being a bit flexible in that regard. So if we see other S-1s not mentioning AP, it doesn’t mean they don’t have one lined up. But in my opinion this makes BlackRock the first horse that is officially ready.”
BlackRock isn’t the only BTC ETF hoping to name its APs.
Valkyrie called both Jane Street and asset manager Cantor Fitzgerald as APs, while so does Fidelity chosen Jane Street as AP.
Meanwhile, ETF issuer WisdomTree assigned Jane Street as AP, while investment management company Invesco cited JPMorgan and financial firm Virtu as APs.
Spot market BTC ETFs are scheduled to be approved or denied by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sometime in January 2024.
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